Delta 2023: Professor Oyovbaire Has A message For Urhobo Nation, As DC-23 Inaugurates BoT, NEC Members Today

By Daniel Dafe, Abraka

Ahead of the 2023 gubernatorial elections, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Sam Oyovbaire, has called on Urhobo nation to go about pursuing the actualization of producing the governor modestly.

Oyovbaire, who spoke to Oasis Magazine (OM) exclusively, just as the Delta Central 2023 group inaugurates the body’s Board of Trustees (BoT) and NEC members today, added that it is important that the Urhobos do not show any form of arrogance about seeking to produce the next governor, saying that they must be ready to persuade people and make them see that the rotation is a robust thing that will bring peace to the state.

Professor Oyovbaire who is to chair the DC-23 occasion, said the convener, Chief Ighoyota Amori, is his good friend and one very enthusiastic in everything he does, but said talking about a constitution and structures were not necessary because it is a lobby group within the PDP.

On if the rumours that DC-23 was a group formed to project David Edevbie, he said: ”As far as I know, DC-23 is not working for any candidate.”

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Speaking more about the group, he said: ”In DC-23, I personally rejected to have an office. They had zoned whatsoever they thought was the Board of Trustees to Okpe thinking that was the position I was interested in. I am not in any office. I believe in DC-23 because it is a lobby group within PDP. If I discover that it is outside PDP I will get out.”

While he commended the initiative, he said if you ”keep on having too strong a group, you would encourage others to have theirs against you.”

”That is not what PDP wants or stands for. PDP stands for persuasion,” he opined.

According to him, it is his view that the rotation comes to central not because he is an Urhobo man.

”No one has ever gone against the party has been able to produce any governorship candidate for the party. We went through rough edges under Uduaghan and Okowa. The party will take a stand based on the rotation arrangement and we will all follow that.”

To Urhobo nation, he said: ”Let us be humble, convince our fellow PDP leaders and co-leaders in the north and particularly in the south senatorial district that it should go back to Urhobo. We started in the central, it went to the south, we all fought it went to the north and now it is coming back to central.

”But don’t force people. People may want to contest from other senatorial districts but once the party stands and says this is the way we are going, that is where we go.”