Chairman of the Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chiedu Ebi, appears to be deliberate in his efforts to emerge a political force to be reckoned with in Delta State politics. In fact, watchers of Delta politics believe that the NDDC boss is now the political leader of the Ika Federal constituency in Delta North Senatorial District where he hails from, given the cult-like following and intense popularity he enjoys there.

In what could be likened to a demonstration of his firm grip and constituency-wide influence and acceptance in Ika nation, Ebie who is the co- convener of a socio-political group, Delta Unity Group (DUG), last week, facilitated the defection to the All Progressives Congress ( APC) of over 10, 000 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members under the aegies of the group.

Addressing the mammoth crowd of party supporters and array of APC bigwigs, at Agbor, venue of the defection ceremony, Ebie said the defection of the DUG members and their supporters signaled a liberation of Ika land, particularly Agbor from years of political isolation, broken promises and under development. He maintained that the defection opened a new chapter in the political history of the area, birthing a new leadership, under the APC.

?Agbor people have been in bondage for over two decades. The people you see here today are not coerced, induced or paid to come here. This is organic. They love us very dearly. We have worked hard in the Ika federal constituency and they are grateful for that,? Ebie said.

A chieftain of PDP in the state who preferred anonymity lamented that since defecting from the party to the, APC, the soft spoken NDDC Chairman ?has been the bone on the throat of our party. He has not only tipped the balance of party dominance in the Ika Federal constituency in favour of the APC, he is also leading the charge for the PDP?s total evisceration in the whole of Delta?.

PDP?s worry about Ebie?s deft political moves may have stemmed from the fact that virtually all of the DUG members who the NDDC boss brought into the APC are influential PDP chieftains and hardcore grassroots politicians who had at one time or the other held strategic political offices in the state and at the national level.

On hand to receive the defectors were the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo Agege, Senator representing Delta North, Ned Nwoko, APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, Member representing Ethiope Federal constituency in the House of Reps and Chairman House Committee on NDDC, Hon. Ibori-Suenu Erhiatake among other APC leaders.

Agbor, venue of the rally is the heart of the Ika nation, the same constiuency where the immediate past state governor and PDP?s Presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa hails from. Daily Sun was told that Agbor nay the Ika Federal constituency will be serving as a springboard for dislodging the PDP from power in the state. Ebie?s rising political profile and his ability to command unprecedented political following in the Federal constituency is reportedly unsettling the former governor.

Recall that Ebi served variously as Commissioner for Higher Education and the Secretary to Delta State Government, SSG, under Senator Okowa.

Receiving the decampees, the APC national chairman, described the DUG as soldiers of democracy and a viable platform for APC?s total takeover of Delta state come 2027.

His words: ?We have the three Senators now. We have members of the House of Representatives and State Assembly members and over 60 per cent of the followers of PDP have now joined the APC. We are sure of taking over this state, come next election.

?We are not surprised because of the timber and caliber of politicians you have in Delta State in the APC. What we require now is unity. Unity of purpose and unity to win election so we can provide quality governance to the people of Delta state.

?Very soon, we will organise a stakeholders? meeting for all those major stakeholders because they are all good people. They are all wise people. They are all intelligent people, and they are all democrats. So, all of them will be convened for unity, like the Delta Unity Group?

On his part, Governor Okpebholo expressed optimism that like Edo, Delta will inevitably fall to the APC in the next election, describing Ebie as an intelligent man who wants the best for the people of the state.

According to the Edo State Governor, ?I am here to appreciate and encourage my brother, the chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Chiedu Ebie, and others. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing very well for the nation. He is repairing the foundation of the country for better prosperity. Because of that, in Edo State, we have started. We said 2027 is already possible. It is also possible here in Delta.

?It is our turn to shine in the South- South. It is now your turn in Delta. It is happening here, as it happened in Edo State.

?Chiedu is an intelligent young man who knows when to move. It is time for Delta to move, and it is starting here with the Ika people.?

Senators Nwoko and Omo Agege in their speeches alluded to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori?s alleged moves to defect to the APC and mockingly asked him to stay put in the PDP as he was not welcomed in Delta APC.

Multiple sources however told Daily Sun that the Delta State Governor is not perturbed by the tantrums and darts from Senators Nwoko and Omo Agege as he has devised a plan to return in 2027 while remaining in the PDP.

One of the sources explicitly told Daily Sun that the governor is working towards cutting a deal with the national leadership of the APC and President Bola Tinubu?s henchmen wherein, though a PDP governor, he will deliver Delta for the President in 2027 in exchange for securing a firm guarantee for a second term.

Other sources however swore that it was only a matter of time before the governor defects to the APC.

Meanwhile, Daily Sun has learnt that the mass exodus of DUG members and their supporters from the PDP has left the Delta State chapter of the party gasping for breath. Watchers of Delta politics opine that the emergence of DUG which Daily Sun?s findings revealed, is one of the offshoots of the political family of Delta State?s former governor, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, the calibre of political leaders behind it and the harmattan fire-like permeation of its message across Delta political landscape as well as its burgeoning membership are sources of headache for the PDP in the state.

Pundits are of the view that Ebie and DUG?s unrelenting blitz to cement the APC as a dominant political party in Delta state are capable of reconfiguring the state?s political landscape, thus ending PDP?s 26 year old firm grip on the state. (Daily Sun)

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