MUST READ FOR ISOKO SON OR DAUGHTER Isoko intensify bid for Delta PDP deputy governorship slot MORE Isoko groups have staked claim for the deputy governorship of Delta State, threatening to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if it fails to consider one of its sons or daughters for the position. They include the socio-cultural body, the Isoko Development Union (IDU), Isoko Solidarity Forum (ISF) and Defender of Democracy Group (DDG). The IDU, which is the apex socio-cultural organization and mouthpiece of Isoko nation, said the area would not hesitate to vote en-masse for the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) if the party, rather that the PDP, picks one of its own as deputy governor. The threat by the Isoko nation is coming on the heels of wide speculations that the leadership of the PDP and its candidate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, were being pressured to pick an Ijaw native as deputy despite an existing political understanding. In a statement, the IDU President General, Maj.-Gen. Paul Omu (rtd.), and Secretary General, Comrade Julius Malam-Obi, insisted that Isoko has always conceded top political positions to other ethnic nationalities like Itsekiri and Ijaw in Delta South since 1999. According to the statement, IDU expressed concern over the alleged neglect and exclusion of its stakeholders in the allocation of political offices ahead 2015, disclosing that interactions with the leadership of the PDP and the APC indicated that both parties were not considering the tribe for the position. “IDU hereby states that only the political party that appoints an Isoko son or daughter as deputy governor will have the vote of our people. The consequence of this should not be lost on all,” the statement read. “We shall, regrettably, mobilize our voting strength of about over a million nationwide for any party in the forthcoming elections. IDU will ensure that our votes count. We shall do so because it is unacceptable to the Isoko people to get less than deputy governor from any political party. “We therefore call on the President and the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party and other party leaders to urgently act to avoid any ugly occurrences.” Besides the IDU, the Isoko PDP Elders and Leaders Council said that by all political permutations and norms, it is only natural for the Ijaw and the Itsekiri to support the tribe in this quest since Delta North has already been given the governorship ticket. “Since 2003, the Isoko ethnic nation has continuously conceded the senate seat to our Ijaw brothers. In 2007, we generously conceded the governorship to our Itsekiri brothers,” chairman of the council, D. E. A. Etaluku, and his deputy, P. O. Oju, said in a statement. “Having been conceding top positions, we expect that for any top position, elective or appointive, coming to Delta South, the Isoko nation should be considered first. “This time, consequently, the position of deputy governor should be reciprocally ceded to Isoko. We do not expect our Itsekiri and Ijaw brothers to object to this fair and justifiable demand,” On its part, the ISF frowned at the news that the Ijaw are angling for the position hitherto zoned to Isoko. It commended the position of IDU and the Elders and Stakeholders Forum on this issue, stating that they showed uncommon courage, patriotism and foresight, and should not back down on their resolve in order not to incur the wrath of natives. According to the group, equity and fairness necessitated the emergence of Senator Okowa as guber candidate of the PDP because it was zoned to Delta North, therefore, Okowa and the state PDP should extend to Isoko the same fairness and equity. In a statement, the ISF President, Dr. Prosper Ahworegba, General Secretary, Fred Amata, and Director, Research, Strategy and Communications, Felix Idama, noted that it is not political correctness for the Ijaw to hold tenaciously to the senatorial seat for 16 years and add the deputy governorship to it while Isoko remain empty-handed. It stated: “If Okowa is brow-beaten by the Ijaw and concedes the position to them, we aver that our organization, which has loud presence in all clans of Isoko and in the Diaspora, will collaborate with IDU to mobilize the Isoko nation to vote en-masse for the candidate who will give us a better bargain. “We can’t continue to play second fiddle when the Isoko nation is the largest onshore oil producer with no Federal Government presence or ministerial appointment. If those who take up arms against the nation are generously rewarded and now determine who governs us, the Isoko people are no cowards.” Also, the DDG, on Sunday, alleged the marginalisation of Isoko and called on the people to support only the political party that would choose a native as deputy governor. A statement by its Director General, Ejoor Mukoro, raised the alarm over “a calculated attempt by various governments to marginalize the Isoko nation in Delta State despite being a populous and oil-bearing area in the country.” It lamented that since the creation of the state, the ethnic nationality has never been allowed to produce the governor, deputy, minister, ambassador, chairman of any major federal board or parastatal or executive director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Mukoro noted that Isoko suffers from constant environmental degradation with inadequate attention by various governments, adding: “It is also worrisome that though the largest ethnic group in Delta South, it has constantly been muzzled and relegated, even though it has sacrificed so much to stabilize democracy.” According to him, “DDG observes that the Isoko nation controls the swing vote that can produce the governor of Delta State. It is within our purview the scary statistics that reveals a deliberate alienation and subjugation of the Isoko of Delta. “Our nascent democracy is in jeopardy if in a multi-party democracy, a particular nation is continually segregated against and treated as second class in a state where it holds inalienable right. “The Defender of Democracy Group wishes to draw the attention of the various political parties and all Deltans to the serious and criminal marginalization of the Isoko nation since the creation of the state.” ngrguardiannews/news/national-news/191463-isoko-intensify-bid-for-delta-pdp-deputy-governorship-slot
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 08:46:47 +0000
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