There is pandemonium in Delta State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the Senator Ali Modu Sheriff’s faction of PDP has formally inaugurated his parallel executives at the state, local governments and at the ward levels in the state, sending fear in the faction the state governor, Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa belong.
The latest development clearly unsettled the earlier conducted State, LGA and Ward congresses in the state that produced Barr. Kingsley Esiso-led executive committee and the corresponding 25 LGAs and wards, imposed by the state governor, Senator Okowa, under the Ahmed Markafi National Caretaker Committee of the party.
The Senator Modu Sheriff faction of the PDP in the state had been side-lined in the party congresses and cocooned all along until reaffirmation of Senator Sheriff as the PDP National Chairman by an Abuja Federal High Court, coupled with the appointment of Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, an arch-rival of Senator Okowa in Ika axis of the state, as the National Deputy Chairman to Senator Sheriff.
At the inauguration of the local government executives in Agbor, a former PDP State Deputy Chairman, now the State PDP Chairman loyal to Sheriff, Hon. Chief. Austin Ogbaburhon, who presided over the ceremony, said he was sworn-in as the state chairman in Abuja last week along with 26 others.
Ogbaburhon, a former House of representative member, described the inauguration of the local government executives as historic, saying that his executive was the authentic state working committee of the PDP.
According to him, “This will show that the PDP is on ground in Delta State. We don’t have any other PDP leader in the state other than these executive members that are here. Last week, I was sworn-in as the state chairman at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja.
“In compliance with our party constitution, I am swearing-in the chairmen of the party in the 25 local government areas who will in turn swear-in the Ward executives at the various councils. This is in line with our constitution, we are not doing what is outside the constitution.
He charged the local government executives to return to their areas and “fish for members” ensuring that the party remain united in the state in order to retain power in 2019, while insisting that there was no faction within the party’s leadership.
In his remark, national deputy chairman of the Sheriff faction, Dr. Ojougboh assured loyalists of the party that the peace initiative of Sheriff and Markafi was taking shape.
Ojougboh implored the executive members to be resilient, saying that, “the way ahead is going to be very difficult but there is light at the end of the tunnel”.
On the Edo State governorship election which was won by the All Progressive Congress (APC), Dr. Ojougboh enjoined party members to be calm as the party was still expecting the report of the exercise before making its position known.
It would be recall that as soon as Senator Sheriff planted his foot on the shores of the state, the Esiso-led executives embarked on a tour of the local governments and wards to save their heads.
