Candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru, has reacted to an article written by one Mr. Pius Uti titled OGBORU HAS SETTLED WITH OMO-AGEGE AND WOULD NOT CONTEST THE 2023 GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION, saying that this arrangement was not an option.
Chief Ogboru said this in a statement on Wednesday signed by his aide, Tony Omolu, (Public Relations Office).
The statement said that the candidate would not have bothered to respond, but in the interest of the loyal supporters of Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru and concerned Delta state electorate, clarifications have become necessary.
According to the statement “Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru has no issues to settle with Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.”
The statement continued: “Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege are opponents, not enemies.
“Ogboru and Omoagege have previously contested elections twice in 2011 and Ogboru defeated Omo-Agege both times, in the rerun election with a wide margin of votes, and again in the 2011 general election, the margin of defeat was even wider with Ogboru polling 433,000 whilst Omo-Agege garnered a meagre 15,000 votes. It’s our firm belief that history would repeat itself in 2023.
“Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru is the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), and as such, will do what is best for his political party and his teeming followers, which is to win the Delta State governorship election in 2023.
“Entering an agreement with Omo-Agege that will sacrifice Ogboru’s mandate as governor can never, and will never be on the cards.
“Ogboru’s choice of running mate, Mr. Chinedu Allanah from Asaba in Oshimili South LGA of Delta state is also a sure sign that Ogboru is “in it to win it.”
He added: “The ban on campaign for governorship elections will be lifted on the 12th of October, 2022 and you can be rest assured that vigorous and strategic campaigns will commence.
“Nobody should doubt the fact that Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru will contest the 2023 governorship election. The campaign will be an eye opener as many will see that Ogboru is the man to beat.
“The people of Delta state are not deceived. Delta state has been badly damaged by inept successive governments of the PDP and Ogboru, the face of opposition in Delta State since 2003, is best placed to rescue Delta from the suffocating grip of misgovernance.
“The people of Delta state do not need a diviner to tell them that Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru is the only viable and credible alternative amongst all the governorship candidates in Delta state, most of whom are part of the problems that have bedevilled the state.”
“Finally we are convinced that votes will count in the 2023 elections. The provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act enabling electronic accreditation and INEC’s introduction of the BVAS system for accreditation and electronic transmission of polling units results guarantee the sanctity of the step-by-step recording of the polls. Therefore, the will of the people can no longer be upturned by the might of the government in power. Deltans will speak with one voice in 2023 and actualize the mandate they have consistently and freely given to Ogboru to govern the State since 2003,” the statement said..