INTERVIEW: Governor Oborevwori is Protecting Dafinone Because of His 2031 Senatorial Ambition - Efemena Umukoro

Former president of Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), Comrade Efemena Umukoro has alleged that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori is protecting the interest of Senator Ede Dafinone so that it will be easy for him to run for senate after completing his second term in 2031. In this interview with CHINEYE EGESI of Next Africa Daily, Umukoro revealed the secret reason behind the governor's support for Dafinone. He said Oborevwori knows that Senator Omo-Agege is better and will attract the needed federal presence, the governor is supporting Dafinone for his personal interest. Excerpts::

**You have been in Delta Central over the years, compare the years of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege with the three years of Ede Dafinone in the senate **

It's an insult to compare the progress and achievements made by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege as a senator to the present sleeping senator of Delta Central in the person of Ede Dafinone. For three years, Senator Dafinone has wasted the position of the senator. Presently, we do not have a voice in the senate. We do not have a voice at the federal level. He has not been able to pull any meaningful development to our people. Right now the only senator that is representing the interest of the Urhobo nation is Senator Adams Oshiomhole of Edo north.

Dafinone does not know what it means to represent the lion tribe of the Urhobo nation. So, it's an insult for any person to ever sit down to compare the achievement made by Senator Ovie Omo- Agege in his three years in office to Ede Dafinone. Ede Dafinone has failed as a politician, and the Urhobo nation is not going to make the mistake of closing its eyes to allow him continue to bring down the image of the Urhobo people.

What were the things Ovie Omo- Agege did that endeared him to the Urhobo people?

For the first time, the name Urhobo nation was placed in the map of federal politics. He was the senator who was able to pull federal presence not only to Delta central but also to the entire Delta State.

Most of the legacies of Ovie Omo-Agege are legacies that even the opposition and people who claim they don’t like him are beneficiaries of. Look at the federal polytechnic at Orogun, that is a life time federal presence. Look at his presence in each of the local governments around Delta central. No Urhobo man has gotten to the level of a deputy senate president like him.

I don’t think any senator in Delta State has been able to get close to his achievements. This is why the Urhobo people, regardless of any physical or political affiliation, we are all rooting for him because he is a man that can act and represent us well. He is a man that knows what it means to be a leader.

Imagine we still have somebody like Ovie Omo- Agege in the senate, we won't be crying for federal presence in Delta Central.

But right now, the whole job is on Senator Adams Oshiomhole. What the Urhobo people have is a sleeping man who does not know what politics is all about. Politics is all about who gets what, when and how? The senator we have now does not know his job. So, it is over lapping for Adams Oshiomhole to be speaking for Urhobo people of Delta Central and also for people of Edo North.

In 2027, we need somebody like Ovie Omo-Agege who knows what it means to be in the senate, to go back and represent us. He is the only person who can bring back that glory and honor associated with the name of the Urhobo nation.

What do you think made Ovie Omo -Agege to leave APC and join the NDC?

The governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, is feeling threatened with the rising profile of Ovie Omo-Agege and if the state governor is somebody who truly loves the Urhobo nation, and wants the progress of the Urhobo people, he should have, at least, focus on his second term ambition and allow a better hand to go to the senate and complete whatever effort he is presently bringing to Delta State through the governorship.

The governor is supporting Ede Dafinone because he is protecting his 2031 ticket. He wants to put a weakling in the person of Ede Dafinone in the Senate so that when he completes his governorship in 2031, he can easily remove Ede Dafinone and run for the senate. That is not in the interest of the Urhobo people.

Moreover, Urhobo has 24 kingdoms. It is geographically wrong for one local government to produce a senator and a governor at the same time. When the governor was campaigning during the 2023 election, he rightly said that it is not proper for the governor to come from Okpe and the senator also from Okpe. But now because he has gotten the governorship, he wants to armtwist other 23 kingdoms and force Okpe on us to produce the senator. This, he's doing, knowing fully well that the senator is incapable. He knows the senator cannot do the job. He is an inactive senator.

The governor is feeling threatened that if Ovie Omo- Agege wins the senate in 2027, being a better hand, he might not been able to get the ticket from him. So, he prefers a weakling to represent us.

You know the presidency gave power of the party to the governor and even when senator Ovie Omo- Agege won clearly during the primaries, the party still refused to give him the ticket because the governor is afraid of him, all because of 2031.

He decided to move to the NDC, which is a better option to realize his ambition and revive the dying image of the Urhobo nation at the central level.

**It's like many Urhobo people are not favorably disposed to Senator Ede Dafinone, what do you think are his crimes? **

The senator is somebody who doesn’t have any idea about politics and he's not ready to take idea from the Urhobo people. Ede Dafinone is not a politician, he is a successful accountant.

Politically, he is a novice and he does not want to learn. He doesn’t take advice and calls. You call him or send him message, he will not reply till one year. Such a person doesn’t represent the image of the Urhobo nation. So, it is difficult for the Urhobo people to align with him. And the 2027 senatorial election is not about party election, it is about individuals. It is about the growth of Urhobo nation. So, as Urhobo people, we cannot afford to have Ede Dafinone as our senator.

We are going to correct it with our PVC. We will protect this vote with everything we have. If you check around and ask people they will tell you that in the history of Urhobo nation, before you become a senator in Urhobo land, people do not ask you what you intend to do, they ask you what have you done for the Urhobo people.

The highest thing Ede Dafinone has done, in his three years in office, is ICT center. This is what a good councilor or local government chairman can do with ease.

Another empowerment program Ede Dafinone has done is the empowerment of POS. How much is a POS machine? And N20,000. Look at what a first time senator, Senator Joel Onowakpo, of Delta South, is doing. He was able to influence Federal Medical Center to Oleh. What federal agency has Dafinone brought to Delta Central in his first term? So, Urhobo people are not going to allow their name to die politically, we will not.

TO BE CONTINUED...