2019: Ex-Gov Uduaghan gets support in efforts to replace Sen Manager

The quest of immediate past governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan to become a senator come 2019 seems to have received the backing of the Itsekiri people of the state.

As the tempo of political activities increases ahead of the 2019 general elections, the Itsekiri, one of the three ethnic groups making up the Delta South Senatorial District, has thrown its weight behind the former governor citing his pedigree and antecedents as reasons for their support.

Senator James Manager currently represent Delta South at the upper chamber of the federal legislature.

Speaking recently on behalf of the ethnic group, the president of a political pressure group, Itsekiri Movement for Good Governance, IMGG, Mr. Jolomi Oritsegbemi said that the Itsekiri had had the least representation at the National Assembly over the years.

According to him, “It is the turn of Itsekiri to produce a senator representing Delta South and Dr. Uduaghan is the only Itsekiri man who will make us reap the dividends of democracy come 2019. He is a true son, a man of the people who believes in developments and impacting lives. Over time, he has proven this, even when he was the governor of the state for eight years.

“It is only the Itsekiri ethnic nationality that has not produced a senator to represent the district since 1999. In the interest of equity and fair play, this should be our turn without any arguments. It is time to prove that Itsekiri people are not made to deliberately play the second fiddle to the other tribes.”

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He further reminded Deltans that an Itsekiri man was last in the senate 39 years ago. “Itsekiri also had two federal constituencies, where Late Hon. Vincent Jemide and Late Hon. Sunny Dabor represented them. The two federal constituencies were to be reduced to one when Chief Chamberlain Abeki from Patani LGA, was appointed as national commissioner into the then Federal Electoral Commission, FEDECO,” revealed Mr Oritsegbemi.

From 1979 till the current dispensation, five senators have represented Delta South Senatorial District. Out of these five, two were from Isoko (Senator Stella Omu and late Senator Francis Okpozo) and another two were from the Ijaw tribe (Chief E.K Clark and Senator Manager, the incumbent). The first and only senator who was from the Itsekiri stock was Chief Franklin O. M Atake in 1979.

Interestingly, the incumbent senator, James Manager, an Ijaw man has been returned to the senate on four occasions consecutively. By the end of 2019, Manager would have spent a total of 16 years in the Red Chambers.

There have been agitations among the the ethnic groups that since the region is made up of other ethnic groups, it’s only fair that either an Isoko or Itsekiri should be favoured for the post this time around.

Recall that Uduaghan withdrew from the race in 2015 arguing, that peace was more important than electoral victories.

In a related development, Pa Daniel Pessu, a former Delta State lawmaker who is 96 years old now, has declared his support for the former governor’s senatorial bid.

Speaking on behalf of six of the 30 surviving former lawmakers in the state, Pa Daniel who represented Warri South constituency in the then Bendel State House of Assembly between 1979 and 1983 thanked Dr. Uduaghan for taking care of them while he was governor of the state.

 

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