By Obaro Irikefe
Delta State stands at a crossroads, and the stakes could not be higher. The dream of real democracy of a government that listens, adapts, and delivers for its people,hangs in the balance. To understand how we got here, we have to look past the headlines and take a hard, honest look at those who claim to have the state’s best interests at heart.
It wasn’t so long ago that the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta was written off as a non-starter. In the wake of the 2015 governorship election, the party was little more than ink on paper, dismissed by former Governor Okowa as a newborn that “can’t even crawl.” After Olorogun Otega Emerhor’s crushing loss, the APC sank into obscurity. Party leaders bickered over campaign expenses, jostling for federal appointments that never came their way. In the end, it was a non-APC member, Ibe Kachukwu, who snagged the ministerial slot. The party looked finished, irrelevant, leaderless, and barely a blip on the political radar.
But then the winds changed. Before 2019, new faces like Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege, Ovedje Ogboru, and Victor Ochei joined the fray. Ogboru lost the governorship, but Omo-Agege bucked the trend, not only returning to the Senate but rising to Deputy Senate President, the highest office ever achieved by a Deltan in Abuja. Unlike most politicians, Omo-Agege didn’t just bask in the title. He brought home real, tangible projects. Roads, schools, and people-focused initiatives. In two short years, he became the talk of Delta, earning respect across party lines and reshaping the APC from the ground up.
Then came 2023. Under Omo-Agege’s leadership, the APC pulled off what many saw as impossible: two Senate seats, a House of Representatives seat, and seven seats in the House of Assembly. As a journalist, I was there on the ground with a team of 42 colleagues. We saw it happen. We watched votes counted, voices raised, and hope rekindled. Yet the governorship slipped away, not for lack of votes, but because of the murky waters of the electoral process. Even PDP stalwarts admitted it was a close shave.
Delta had become a true two-party state. For the first time, the PDP’s monopoly was broken, and democracy seemed to have put down real roots. The system was working. There was debate, competition, and most importantly choice. That’s the lifeblood of any democracy.
But then, just as Delta began to breathe fresh air, a handful of politicians slammed the window shut. Instead of building on these gains, figures like Festus Keyamo, Ede Dafinone, Stella Okotete, and others turned their backs on the people’s mandate. Their ambition wasn’t to serve Delta, but to protect their own interests. Outmaneuvered by Omo-Agege’s popularity and achievements, they reverted to the oldest trick in the book: destroy what you can’t control.
It’s a bitter irony. The very individuals who should have championed a vibrant opposition have instead gutted it, reducing Delta once more to a one-party state. Their actions aren’t just a betrayal of the APC, they’re a betrayal of democracy itself, of every voter who believed change was possible, of every community that dared to hope.
Let’s be clear: one-party systems don’t serve the people. They serve politicians. They breed complacency, entrench corruption, and choke off the oxygen of debate. When politicians fight harder for their own survival than for the survival of democracy, everyone loses except the powerful few.
So the question has to be asked: why have these so-called leaders turned on Omo-Agege? If you scratch beneath the surface, the answer is simple. Many of them have little grassroots support or electoral value. They survive not by winning hearts and minds, but by cutting deals and sabotaging their own party. Instead of building something lasting, they’ve gambled away Delta’s future for personal gain.
And now, the progress we made is coming undone. The promise of a genuine opposition of real checks and balances is slipping through our fingers. Omo-Agege, the man who fought for the people, is being painted as an enemy of the state by those who should have been his allies.
It doesn’t have to end this way. Deltans still have a choice. We can refuse to let this travesty stand. We can hold accountable those who sabotaged our democracy and demand leaders who put the state above their own ambitions. We can remember what Omo-Agege delivered, real projects, real progress, and ask ourselves if we’re willing to let it all be erased.
History will judge us by what we do next. If we allow these political scavengers to rewrite the story of Delta,to turn our home into a one-party fiefdom,then we are all complicit. But if we stand up, demand better, and breathe new life into our democracy, then Delta’s best days are still ahead.
It’s time for fresh air. It’s time for new leadership. And it’s time to send a clear message to those who would trade away our future: Delta belongs to the people, not the politicians.
Thank you.