The immediate past Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa has said he fell out with his former principal and predecessor, James Ibori due to political reasons.
OsunDaily News reports that Okowa and Ibori have been at loggerheads since the conduct of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary election in the state last year.
Recall that Okowa had supported the former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Sheriff Oborevwori to succeed him, while Ibori backed the former Commissioner of Finance, David Edevbie.
However, Oborevwori eventually won both the primary and the governorship elections and was inaugurated as Delta governor on Monday.
Speaking with journalists during a valedictory party in Asaba, the state capital, Okowa said he fell out with Ibori because of his choice of successor and resolved to pitch his tent with Oborevwori.
Okowa said Edevbie, who was also a Commissioner in the Ibori administration, had tricked him into believing he would respect the Delta PDP zoning provision ahead of the governorship election in 2015.
The PDP vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 election said he shared his reservation about Edevbie with IborI but the former governor was unmoved.
He said: “I don’t like to talk about it but obviously there’s no doubt that we didn’t work together.
“We went into the primaries not agreeing on the same candidate, we talked about it but he(Ibori) did not want to shift ground on his candidate. That’s the truth and I did not agree with that candidate for basic reasons which I made clear enough to him and also to his own candidate.
“I did not hide it. Till tomorrow, I speak about it in truth not because I thought I was a god that needed to install somebody. David Edevbie is my friend. We were with the former governor in his tenure together as commissioners, but in 2014, when it became obvious that it was the turn of the Delta North — Delta Central and Delta South had had their turns — I heard that David was going to run and he was indicating interest.
“I went from Abuja with three of my friends to visit him in Lagos — and I said ‘David, please, it’s only fair, I know that there are so many people competing but I’m coming to you as a friend. It will not be fair if you run. Governor James Ibori has been there, Governor Uduaghan has been there, it’s obviously the turn of the Delta North; why don’t you allow us to have our space so that we can all be said to be part of the state? Thereafter, we can all work for you to become governor’.
“And at the end, he said ‘I will not run anymore, I will support you’. I thanked him and left back to Abuja. And then suddenly, the next thing we heard was that they had endorsed David but this same David had committed himself to me.
“So we went into the race, a very tough race but God enabled me to win.”
Speaking further, Okowa said despite appointing Edevbie as a commissioner in his first term in office, he still proceeded with his plans on how to become the next governor in 2023.
He noted that although the zoning rules meant the governorship seat, in 2023, would go to Delta Central, he was adamant that the former commissioner would not be a beneficiary.
He said: “In the second year, I started hearing that he was holding meetings in Lagos and other places where they were already prepping him to be governor without anybody discussing it with me.
“In the first instance, he did not want the zoning to Delta North, so if the zoning was going to continue, he’s my friend but he shouldn’t be the one to benefit from the zoning he did not want.
“I’m careful in what I do so it will be difficult for me to support someone outside Delta Central but my only mindset is that somebody who did not believe in the zoning cannot be the one to benefit from it and I made it clear to the former governor.”
Okowa said Ibori met with him a few days before the primary election to reach a compromise on a fresh candidate — but he noted that it was too little, too late.
“I told him it would be difficult to withdraw support from my candidate. I don’t do things like that,” Okowa said.
