Editorial Delta Guber Rerun and Jonathan’s April Presidential bid

Editor-In-Chief

The Delta State gubernatorial rerun election which held January 6 may have taken place in a relatively peaceful atmosphere, but the result will surely be contested at the court if statements credited to Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru are anything to take seriously.

The result as released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is already sending tongues wagging across the length and breadth of Delta State. No doubt the recent visit of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to Delta State to formally endorse Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan for the rerun changed the political calculations in the state against the ceaseless opposition of Chief Edwin Clark to the re elected Governor’s ambition. While the Uduaghan led PDP in Delta State interpreted the President’s visit as a further confirmation of their grip on the state, those outside the ruling PDP are not taking the President’s romance with Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan with a pinch of salt, particularly against the overwhelming result announced in favour of Uduaghan by INEC in the just concluded gubernatorial rerun.

Unless President Goodluck Jonathan do everything possible to distance himself from the final outcome of the guber result, Deltans sympathetic to Great Ovedje Ogboru may tilt their vote in the April general elections to candidates from other geopolitical zone. This is against the backdrop of opinions gathered from street talks and arguments heading towards that direction. These analysts and Deltans on the street would not want to buy into any argument that the President who is the National leader of PDP owes Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, a fellow party man the obligation of his support. Their arguments are hinged on the fact that all guber aspirants, particularly the front runners canvassed support for his April Presidential bid prior to the guber rerun election in the state. These arguments should not be waved aside by the campaign machinery of President Goodluck Jonathan if truly the President’s April bid is to be actualized, because the implications transcend the political landscape of Delta State.