Delta APC Crisis: Omo-Agege, Emerhor Meet, Sue For Peace

DEPUTY President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and the Founding leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Delta State, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, weekend, sued for peace and unity in the party, maintaining that it was time to end the divisions in the party in the state.

Omo-Agege and Emerhor who stated this when the latter played host to the Deputy President of the Senate in his Evwreni country home in Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state, told other leaders of the party in the state to close rank and work for the unity of the party ahead of the 2023 general election in the state.

Both leaders spoke at Evwreni in Ughelli North LGA when the Deputy President of the Senate visited Olorogun Emerhor at his country-home with other leaders of the party including

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Omo-Agege, who was accompanied by the member representing Ughelli North/ Ughelli South/Udu Federal Constituency, Revd Francis Waive and others, said the visit was a brotherly one, adding that it was part of the effort towards ending the rift between leaders of the party in the state.

While blaming the poor performance of the party in the 2019 general elections on the division within leaders of the APC in the state, he said; “this is a brotherly visit. This is not the first time we are meeting. We have met severally at his residence in Abuja.

Before the commencement of our revalidation exercise, I had planned to visit him to say hello. It was not just to say hello but to reiterate to him based on the discussions we have had. It’s time we bring everybody together.

“As both of us we say, Delta State is ripe for the taking. We have also said that can only happen if all of us are on the same page. Come to think of it, what are we fighting for? At the end of the day, we are brothers first before we became members of APC. Party will come and go but the Urhobo people will remain Urhobo. Delta State will remain Delta State.

“As from today, we should all know that we are one. The party is not just about Olorogun Emerhor and myself, we still have other leaders.

In politics, we drag who gets what, but while doing that, we must do it with civility. We must do it with humanity. We must not play it in a way that it becomes almost impossible to reconcile yourselves at the end of the exercise.

“That was what we went through in 2019. That’s why you see a very poor result. We will reach out to others. We will try and bring everyone on board.

We respect everyone. We respect every leader of the party in the state. All we want is that Delta State is delivered to APC. Let’s reach out to other leaders of the party and those who align and support them and their aspirations.

I will work with everyone to ensure that APC wins future elections in the state through unity”.

Also in his remarks, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, who was the 2015 governorship candidate of the party in the State, said the Omo-Agege’s visit to his house was historic, insisting that it was time for leaders and members of the party from across the state to embrace peace and unite in the interest of the party.

Emerhor said the only reason the opposition had not been able to wrestle power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the state was as a result of the disunity and division among opposition leaders in the state.

He said “being the Founding leader and having contested a number of elections in the state, I know this for a fact. And this why I have continued to send out messages of unity in recent times.

“As someone who stepped forward after the demise of late Senator Pius Ewherido to build this party and then ran for Senatorial in 2013 and Gubernatorial in 2015, I know what we have suffered in the state and I also know why we have not gone far in the state.

“It’s not because PDP has been so strong, they are strong no doubt about it, but we have never been united as a party. If you don’t unite, it’s easy to pick you apart and break you, that is the lesson of the broom when is bunched together, you can’t break it but as a single stick, you can break it, and that is what has been happening to us in Delta state.

“So, I believe that unity is our only winning formula against the PDP in the next election. Divided we fall, united, we stand. That is why I have continued to preach peace and I am happy that that is what Senator Omo-Agege has come to demonstrate here today, by putting aside any differences we may have had.

“He didn’t start it with this visit, he had reached out to me like he acknowledged and we have met before. We had a discussion and today, he has come to make it open for all to see and know that we must come together.

“The second aspect of winning Delta State is the issue of leadership. There must be a leader of the party. We have many leaders but somebody must be the head who organises the others to work together so that the ‘Oshobey’ can work.

There cannot be many Captains in a ship. Too many cooks spoil the broth.

“If you are a father and your son is appointed King, you still remain the father, but you are now the subject of your son the King. The son, the king still respects the father and the father respects his son as King. The king is the king whether you are older than him. Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, God has made you king in Delta state APC, that cannot be disputed. Nonetheless, you are here today to respect your senior brother.

“If we are to win, we must have a leader, and that role, it is you, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege that can play it now. It is very clear, all of us who are leaders in Delta state today, if we lead a delegation to Abuja who will they acknowledged first, it is him, will anyone be contesting that at such a meeting? We cannot do that unless we don’t want to win.

“However, leadership comes with responsibilities and challenges. When you are king, you must bring your people together, and that is my challenge to our leader, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege. You must do more, you must not give up. You must reach out to the other leaders, Chief Great Ogboru, Festus Keyamo and others and bring everyone together. In that quest, I will continue to support you to ensure that all the leaders of the party come together.

“Also being the State Leader does not translate to Sole Administrator. It will behove the Leader to consult and listen and work with all of us the other leaders.

“The era where two leaders will gang up against others and create faction in Delta APC is over. Let it be known that I am not ganging up with the Senator, but supporting him to ensure that peace and unity reign in Delta APC”.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/03/delta-apc-crisis-omo-agege-emerhor-meet-sue-for-peace/amp/