Prince Collins Eselemor is neither a new name in the country’s political sphere nor his face debuting in the media. He is the Grand Patron of Ijaw Youth Council; an offshoot of ancient wealth – the Eselemor Dynasty.
He is currently Candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) for the Bomadi/ Patani Federal Constituency. As always Eselemor ferociously bared his mind in this chat with The Union Nigeria in Abuja. Read it…
Do you think you are a Match for Hon Nicolas Mutu who you are battling in the 2023 House of Representatives elections?
He has his opinion. Everybody have their opinion, even when you go to court, you take an oath that the evidence you would bring is the truth. If at the end of the day you are defeated so be it. It is either that you meet in heaven or hell.
They won’t use that oath against you so everybody has his opinion to himself. He is very comfortable because he has seceded. He is a corrupt officer; it is not how long that bothers me but how well he has been in custody of my constituency that I belong to.
I recently bared the facts of how he held meetings with the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-agege and the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman of Delta State, Engr Omeni Sobotie, to undermine my position in the coming election. That action alone reeks of fear of the outcome of the coming elections on his side. The chairman of APC hasn’t denied my claims.
I think what I remembered that happened on that day was that I was brought in and since Nicholas was there I was taken to Omo-Agege’s study. When Nicholas left I was brought in with a gun. Omo-Agege’s aide, Efe Duku was saying that it was an insult for me to say that Omo-Agege doesn’t fly straight and that if a gun was pointed to my head to stop me from running. That is rather metaphorical.
Of course, the gun I was held hostage with symbolically was the party’s structure which Omo-Agege has control of. And he is someone who can determine who becomes who and he would weaponize the structure against any person. So someone who has this weapon and says that I should not contest has pointed a gun at me. It is only a fool that would contest under such circumstance.
The Same DSP Omo-Agege you condemn was endorsed recently by the Ijaw foremost Leader, Pa E.K Clark. How do you see that?
Pa. Edwin Kiagbodo Clark’s endorsement is not only despotic, it is excruciating. It’s a wrong move, at a wrong venue, endorsed by a defective leadership. E.k Clark in his own domain is not respected, he has no respect for loyalty, as we speak, his immediate community is in court with him over Kingship.
He’s not popular, he has no electoral capital because his own son that was impeached contested house of representative against Ijaw people from his Local government and failed. Even at that it was anti-party on the part of EK Clark.
He used DPP against PDP that he belonged and the son failed when he was in custody of Burutu people’s executive right, he was impeached at his verge of leaving, and failed an election. Of course, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in consideration of EK Clark’s support 2015, EK Clark took this same son of his as a senior political adviser in his cabinet.
Today EK Clark is saying that he wants Ijaw government and that what he did eight years ago was wrong so he’s an expert of double speaking. I just pity the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege for not to have known that E.K Clark had long ceded the sovereignty of his self-esteem to lies and politics.
Nobody loves him any more so, it was a wrong move, at a wrong venue, endorsed by a defective leadership, it is a waste of force. EK Clark said he wasn’t into Partisan politics. Of recent, he said he wasn’t a member of party politics, that he is a statesman, he is a patriotic Nigerian. Look at what he is doing, EK Clark can write off in a check the entire political consideration of the Ijaw nation.
As we speak, I have a perpetual injunction against EK Clark stopping him from parading himself as the foremost Ijaw leader. That injunction hasn’t been set aside. I have a legal position against him, so EK Clark’s defection became a condition in his 40’s, we didn’t see any distinction in regards to the development in the Ijaw area; subsequently, he became a minister of the federal republic of Nigeria.
Now after saying he needed an Ijaw governor he is endorsing an Urhobo Governor three months after he endorsed someone else. By the special grace of God, I was exonerated and all the governorship candidates are Urohobos so Omo-Agege has no foresight.
He doesn’t know how inconsequential EK Clark is for now so his endorsement is an endorsement of failure, sealed by deceit against the Ijaw people. He doesn’t vote on that day, he’s always losing his ward, then talk of his unit.
So I want the bar of public opinion to tell us how relevant EK Clark is in the aspect of politics in Delta state. So Omo-agege has failed. It is an endorsement of failure. Omo-agege himself does not fly straight so I’m not surprised that he is being endorsed by someone who doesn’t fly straight.
What we are afraid of when I was in the All Progressives Congress (APC) was for Olorogun David Edevbie not to emerge from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), because we were going to go through a logistical nightmare to defeat Edevwie as the flag bearer of the PDP.
So, Omoagege has failed on arrival.
Are you by Proxy Endorsing David Edevbie?
Of course, this is a time we need a leader whose character is infested with courage and hope, whose character is determined, selfless and above all incorruptible. Our support and prayers for such leader is to see that the leader considers all this accolades as a personal commitment to take Delta state out of Egypt.
It is not the party we are looking at, we are looking at the candidate. Like the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate is an Isoko man. I would be picking bones with my conscience having taken a position earlier for an Urhobo candidate, for an Isoko man to become a candidate in my political party.
If I support him, I will be picking bones with my conscience.
So you are working against your Candidate, is that not anti-party?
I’m not working against my own candidate; I am only working against candidates who are not trust worthy, candidates who are posted to rock the boat. Of course, Chief Goodnews Agbi was posted by Omo-agege to stop the chance of Chief Great Ogboru. Ogboru was supposed to be in NNPP. Agbi highjacked the process at the behest of his pay masters. Agbi was the first candidate to secure a governorship ticket in the whole country; it was appropriated, knowing that Ogboru was interested.
Agbi has no money; he is a lecturer in Ozoro Polytechnic. If you put all his salaries together for three, four years, he can’t afford the ticket of NNPP, so we know what has happened there and we are not fools, it happened to me when DSP Ovie Omo-agege and the State Chairman of APC, Engr. Omeni Sobotie sabotaged and tried to dissuade me, but I was wise enough to stay put and pick up a ticket with NNPP, so I am still in the ballot like Ogboru is still in the ballot.
Don’t you know, Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso, NNPP’s flagbearer said that if he is not favored, he was going to support Bola Tinubu of the APC? That man is liberal, so if our flag bearer can say so, why can’t I say that, if I see the weak chances of Agbi that was posted to give Omoagege soft landing. Why wouldn’t I say that I support Olorogun David Edevbie if I know Agbi is going to lose.
More so, I have been at the fore of the movement for Urhobo governor ahead of the 2023 elections. It is no news in Delta state that I did that. So if I support and vote for Agbi, I would be picking bone with my conscience.
So we need a leadership, somebody who has political history, who has an administrative history to take Delta State out of Egypt and that is the truth. Egypt is where Quagmire is, you know when Moses said, Pharaoh let my people go, it is a metaphorical term to express what is happening in Delta State. It’s a metaphorical term as it relates to a governor that will take Delta state out of this economic Quagmire.
What is your position on the sack of PDP’s candidate Mr Sherriff Oborevwori who is coincidentally the speaker of the State House of Assembly?
Democracy like the conventional definition that I have taken serious exception to; is the Government of the people, by the people and for the people.
It is so in a civilized system where the three arms of government are independent of each other but in the same government. Now we need a derived phenomenon to define democracy, as a phenomenon that reconciles governments efficiency and its legitimacy, the authority that we give to them are our freedom. Those are the four fundamentals that make up democracy.
We want somebody that would match it and see himself operating these four fundamentals to better the lives of Deltans. The judiciary was independent enough to have taken a decision in favour of Olorogun David Edevbie and that is the beauty of Democracy if not, we were almost operating an apostate led system, piloted by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa. Sherrif was physically imposed on the people.
He doesn’t have the credentials and he has been exposed by the judiciary, which is the beauty of the democracy. When there is rancor or differences between the electorates and the umpire, anyone who feels aggrieved goes to court and it has to be interpreted by the court.
There are stories of several power plays in the APC before the primaries especially as it relates to Delta State inside the bigger picture. Can you tell us more?
The Deputy Senate President Ovie-Omoagege has been frustrated after the Presidential primaries because it didn’t go the way he wanted. Ovie before the APC presidential primaries left for the venue with the great anticipation that the Senate President Ahmed Lawan was going to win because that is the National Assembly plan. Because should Lawan win, it would be a replay of what is happening in the national assembly with Ovie deputizing for Lawan. Ovie would now have become the Vice presidential Candidate to Lawan. Ovie has been on the fence; Ovie’s plan B was to be the Governorship flag bearer of Delta State.
Ovie never wanted to be the governor because he was promised to be the vice president to Lawan that was why they beat the gun when they said that Lawan was the adopted son, the anointed son by Buhari, by everybody. Those where Ovie’s plan before Jagaban, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu came on board. That was why before the primaries when Jagaban visited Delta State, Ovie deliberately left Delta state so that it gives a scenario that Jagaban wasn’t welcomed. We know all that, of course, then I was still in APC, so we knew.
Delta state votes were given to Lawan, which was the agreement. Even Governor Rotimi Amaechi was deceived by Ovie. Ovie betrayed Amaechi and gave the Delta State votes to Lawan. Unfortunately for him, Lawan lost and you think that Jagaban doesn’t know. If Ovie was for Jagaban, Lawan would have stepped down for Jagaban.
Now, Ovie can’t have a grip of the ‘who is who’ in APC. Of course Jagaban is in Charge and he can’t face Jagaban, all he needs to do is to go to EK Clark and all others to find favour, so he is frustrated and we are going to give it to him, Ovie is going to fail.
Better candidates should be voted for, candidates that would take Delta state to the next level. So he is not in the good books of Jagaban but he met the wrong person Chief EK Clark, a wrong leader, a wrong endorsement with a fake seal. EK is a waste force and that’s my position on Ovie. Ovie mandate is a waste as far as Delta state Governorship election is concerned.
When I was in APC, I said it. I said we were going to go through a logistic Nightmare if Edevbie emerges. But for Sheriff and others, Ovie would sail through, but for Edevbie, Ovie will be given a run for his money. So, we are going for the right candidate. Delta state has suffered so much, the choice for political candidates transcends political parties.
