Delta Central: Group Accuses Ibori Of Imposing Candidates From London Prison
BEVERLY HILLS, CA, July 02, (THEWILL) - A group based in Oghara in Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State has accused former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori, who is currently serving a jail term in a London prison, of imposing his daughter on the people of Ethiope West Constituency as the next candidate for the House of Assembly for the area as well as his cousin, one Solomon Golley, as the unopposed chairmanship candidate in the Local Government election scheduled to hold on October 25.
Although the group said its protest was suppressed by some people loyal to Ibori, it added that it is now becoming obvious that the imposition of candidates is actually spreading across the entire Delta Central Senatorial district contrary to the assurance already given by the State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan that there will be no imposition of candidates in the forthcoming Local Government election and the 2015 general election.
In a release weekend, the group said investigation has revealed that what has become known as the 'Ibori Imposition' has turned the Ethiope East Local Government chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) upside down with the imposition of one Chief (Mrs.) Faith Majemite on the people of the Local Government.
It recalled that Faith Majemite who hails partially from Kokori in Ethiope East and Edo State, has been in government since the time of Olorogun Felix Ibru Administration and has held positions from Executive Assistant in Ibori Government to Commissioner in the Uduaghan Administration and is up till now a Special Adviser on Mass Mobilisation.
It is also on record that in the 2011 election, she lost all elective positions in her ward as the opposition party then swept through Ethiope East except for a few wards in Orhoakpor and Isiokolo.
The group also recalled that Majemite lost in the PDP primary for House of Assembly in 2011 to one Mr. James Adiotomre who beat her to the second position, but however used her might to allegedly impose herself on the PDP as the House of Assembly candidate only for her to lose to the candidate of opposition party, the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP).
Rumours had been rife that she was going to contest for the House of Representatives but suddenly, it was gathered that she sought the endorsement of Ibori from London and she may have received his blessing to run as the sole PDP candidate for the October 25 Local Government election.
It added that impeccable sources said at a meeting held at the residence of a former leader of the party in Ethiope East, Chief Michael Adiotomre, a few days ago, the news of the alleged imposition was broken to the PDP members from the area through the current leader in the area, Chief Bernard Edewor.
A source who attended the meeting said Edewor and the party's executive in the area asked other contestants for the chairmanship and councillorship to withdraw from the race in preference for Majemite and other councillorship candidates endorsed by Ibori from London.
Another source who confirmed this imposition linked it to the arrangement of a political pressure group in Delta Central, the Urhobo Political Forum (UPF) led by Chief Ighoyota Amori, the Senior Political Adviser to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan.
The source alleged that Amori had requested from the Delta State governor to allow him to single-handedly pick all the candidates for the October 25 Local Government election in Delta Central (that is Urhobo area), adding that the governor acquiesced to that request.
Although it was not possible to reach out to the UPF national chairman to confirm the story as he was said to have travelled to Brazil for the ongoing World Cup, it was discovered that for now, in local areas of Delta Central where imposition of candidates have been alleged, the supposed candidates are staunch members of the UPF, the release said.
It was also gathered that the imposition fever which is now being linked to Ibori/Amori is spreading like wild fire and has already registered its presence in Uvwie Local Government Area and Sapele Local Government Area.
The group further said that no confirmation of this development was however forthcoming from the leadership of the parallel political pressure group, the Urhobo Political Congress (UPC) which is being led by the Delta State Commissioner for NDDC and Chairman of PDP in Delta Central, Chief Sir Tom Amioku.
But an executive member of the group who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: 'It would not work. It means the opposition party still have to conquer Delta Central in the October election and the 2015 general election. This was what they attempted in 2011 that made PDP to lose in Delta Central, they are at it again. Let's wait and see.'
The source, according to the group, however assured that the UPC will resist the imposition to any level.