Uduaghan Shocked… As Battle for the Soul of Delta State Begin

Source: huhuonline.com

Tomorrow the screening of ministerial nominees commences, but Delta State Governor, Dr.Emmanuel Uduaghan is not a happy man, as it dawn on him that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Delta state has only one ministerial nominee,which

happens to be his archenemy.
When President Yar`adua named Elder Godsday Orubebe as ministerial nominee in 2007, Delta state PDP led by James Ibori and Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan were unhappy. The maternal cousins saw Orubebe`s nomination without their imput, as an attempt by the Presidency undermine them. Consequently, they opposed him and used their influence as members of Yar'Adua's kitchen cabinet to stall his swearing in.

Having failed in their bid to stop Godsday Orubebe, they decided that his kinsman (Ijaw), Goodluck Jonathan, who submitted Mr.Orubebe`s name to President Yar`adua must be taught a lesson. For this reason, during the first two years of Umaru Yar'Adua's presidency, the vice president was starved of funds and reduced to a mere social prefect, who must only be seen and not heard.

Like that was not enough, when Yar`dua became incapacitated; they mobilized resources, both monetary and human to ensure Goodluck Jonathan does not emerge as Acting President. Like Orubebe`s nomination, Goodluck Jonathan ascension as Ag. President was stalled for three months. However, since the tide turned in favor of Goodluck Jonathan (became Ag. President), Emmanuel Uduaghan has made several attempts to forge an alliance with the Ag. President, as he has relocated his office to Delta State government Lodge in Abuja. Nevertheless, it appears the Ag. President may have forgiven, but has certainly not forgotten.

Jonathan Takes Full Charge
Contrite to his late moves to influence the Presidency and nominate a new minister from Delta state even as sources are quoted to have made matters worse for some governors following Acting President Goodluck Jonathan's ambush by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees Chairman, Olusegun Obasanjo with a list of nominees, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan who had to cut short his trip to the United States to rush down to Nigeria on learning that the nomination of the ministers was going on may not have had his last laugh as Elder Godsday Orubebe, whom he tried to withdraw came bouncing back as a nominee.

He is among Governor's who considered it morally wrong for Jonathan to accept nomination of persons dropped by the same administration when fresh minds with fresh ideas are available.


Why Uduaghan wants Orubebe out:
Emmanuel Uduaghan has had so many unprintable attacks from foremost Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin K. Clerk over his (Uduaghan's) backdoor entrance into the Delta Government House. And for that, Chief Clerk sees him as a thief who stole a peoples mandate through a tactical maneuvering by a better thief in charge of a state's treasury then.

Elder Godsday Orubebe, former minister of state in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs is a pronounced political son of Chief Clerk, a man they see as an arch rival to the policies of their government. He was state Chairman of an opposition party, All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) when former Delta governor, Chief James Ibori appointed him as Special Adviser. He is seen in the Governor Uduaghan's tent as “stubborn”. Uduaghan simply did not want him back as minister and decided to cut short his trip to the United States to rush down to Nigeria on learning that the nomination of the ministers was going on.

Dependable sources say the Governor needed a loyal nominee that could make him sleep, at least with an eye open since he has lost sleep owing to the recent bomb blast that rocked the Government House Annex in the city of Warri.

When Govers of the South South region met to challenge an alleged relocation Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) in Effurun to Kaduna state, Godsday Orubebe the then Minister of State for Niger Delta, called the governor's claim the figment of imagination of certain “mischievous politicians and authors of confusion” who were desirous of throwing spanners into Federal Government's “good works on restoring enduring peace to the oil-rich region”.


Uduaghan's second term chances:

Political pundits' claim that the ministerial re-nomination of Elder Godsday Orubebe may have doused fears in some quarters that he would challenge Governor Uduaghan at the 2011 governorship election in Delta state. The initial fear was that Orubebe (Ijaw) and Uduaghan (Itsekiri) are from the same Delta South Senatorial District and the Orubebe being an Ijaw would garner more influence from his tribesmen of Chief Clerk and Acting President Jonathan to contest a governorship election and wrest power from an alleged non performer. However, in politics there are no permanent friends or foes, but permanent interest, as it stands James Ibori and by association Emmanuel Uduaghan`s interest is at variance with that of the Ag. President.

Baring any last minute changes, Huhuonline.com understands that Goodluck Jonathan Presidency will certainly battle James Ibori for the soul of Delta State. Recall that James Ibori is wanted in London for money laundering. If the new attorney general decides to cooperate with British Authorities, James Ibori may be taken off the street, sooner than later.

To this end, huhuonline.com learnt that there is massive hunt for James Ibori, in connection with recently launched investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on his role in the illegal disposal of about 500 million units of Delta State-owned Oceanic bank shares. Our checks reveals that James Ibori may have used the oceanic bank share as collateral to secure personal loans.


Huhuonline.com gathered that former Governor James Onanefe Ibori, who is wanted for questioning over some of his actions while he was governor of Delta state has 'disappeared' and has not been seen in the past two weeks.