Contrary to insinuations and rumours being bandied around, Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, is not opposed to the state’s gentleman’s agreement on zoning.
Olisa Ifeajika, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, made the clarification at the weekend in Asaba.
Tension had risen recently in the state and the Peoples Democratic Party following Okowa’s statements that tended to suggest a rejection of what is generally seen as a gentleman’s agreement to zone the governorship among the three senatorial districts.
Okowa had said in May during a quarterly media briefing in Asaba that there was no formal agreement on the principle of rotating the governorship seat between the three senatorial districts and had insisted that stakeholders should be concerned about what is fair, equitable and justiceable as far as governorship is concerned.
“There was no formal meeting where a gentleman agreement was reached and that is the truth as at today.
“It means that whatever we are doing or talking about today is about what is fair, equitable and justiceable.”
He had added that he lacked the power to determine who would be governor in 2023, adding that only God that would determine his successor.
“I cannot pretend to be God, for am not. I don’t know who God is going to bring and I don’t have the intention of playing the role of God.”
But Ifeajika said the governor was not averse to zoning of governorship of the state contrary to insinuations in some quarters.
He said it was also not true that the governor came to power through zoning consensus as being canvassed by some highly-placed Deltans. He said that it was imperative to put the records straight in order not to mislead Deltans and other Nigerians.
“There is an insinuation making the rounds; ordinarily one wouldn’t have bothered to talk about it but because it’s coming from very highly-placed persons, there is need to put the records straight.
“It’s not true that the Governor of this state, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, is opposed to zoning, particularly for the governorship of this state.”
“The times he spoke, it was loud and clear. He said that God will help Deltans to determine who will take over from him.
“But even at that, he told Deltans that at the right time, the leadership of the PDP will sit down to decide who the governor will be and after that, leave it to God to decide ultimately as he cannot play the role of God.
“That has been his position; so, it’s not true that the governor is opposed to power moving to Delta Central or any other senatorial district for that matter,” Ifeajika said.
He further said that the insinuations making the rounds that the governor came to power through zoning were wrong because people from other senatorial districts participated in the primaries that brought him to power.
He said that there was no time in the history of the state that any primary for governorship was allowed as an exclusive preserve of any senatorial district.
“The insinuation that it was through zoning that Okowa became governor is also wrong. We are all witnesses to the primaries that brought him to power, persons from the other senatorial districts in the state other than Delta North, participated in the exercise.
“There was no time in the state, particularly in this present dispensation that any primary for governorship has been allowed to be for only one particular senatorial district.
“In all the records we have, primaries had been for all comers; people from all the senatorial districts always participated in all of that.
“For the one that brought Okowa to power in 2015, we are aware that aspirants from Central and South Senatorial Districts participated, including a former minister who has become an apostle of zoning and saying that zoning consensus brought Governor Okowa to power.
“Indeed, former Chief of Staff, Olorogun David Edevbie, came second in that race, meaning that if he had come first, there was no way they would have asked him to stay away and allow Okowa to grab the ticket on the grounds that it was the turn of Delta North to produce the governor.
“In other words, it is not true that it was zoning that brought Okowa to power, it was his person, his pedigree in politics and the grace of God. He also had, as he still does, immense goodwill across the three senatorial districts.
“So, what we are praying for and also asking Deltans to do is that everybody should come together and at the right time, the leadership of PDP will come together and decide who the successor to Governor Okowa will be, and of course, they will be guided by God as the governor himself, had said.
“That’s what we need to do; so, the insinuation that the governor is opposed to the next governorship candidate coming from a particular place is untrue and it is important to put that record straight,” Ifeajika stated.
