Opposition parties under the aegis of the Association of Registered Political Parties in Delta State are now running helter-skelter to redeem their battered image.
The Chairman of the association, David Ashikodi, also the state chairman of the state chapter of the Accord Party, allegedly sold them to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the state on Democracy Day.
Ashikodi told Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and other partakers of the event, when he was called upon to speak on behalf of the association during the dinner party organized by the governor for leaders of registered political parties in the state to feel their pulse, that the governor has since 2007, when he was sworn-in, put opposition parties in the state to shame with his developmental strides.
He did not end at that.
He added: “Your Excellency, I want you to know that from the stipends you are giving to opposition parties, we use some of it to run our national secretariats.
“You have intimidated and embarrassed us with your achievements such that opposition parties in the state have nothing to say again.”
Ashikodi also said members of the association have therefore resolved not to field any candidate against the governor, whom some political heavyweights in the state have been nudging to seek the Delta South Senatorial District ticket next year.
Irked by this, the state chapter of the Labour Party and four other parties have dissociated themselves from such resolution, wondering where Ashikodi got his claims from.
The state chairman of the LP, Comrade Emeka Nkwoala, in Asaba, did not only fault Ashiokodi, he condemned him for speaking out of context.
Nkwoala said: “For me, I don’t sponsor my national secretariat.
“My National Chairman, Barrister Dan Nwuanyanwu, is a national figure of great repute.
“All the chapters of my party are well catered for by the national body.
“So, whatever logistics the governor gives is to boost the state chapters registered political parties.”
Nkwoala said the endorsement of Uduaghan as the sole candidate for the senatorial seat in Delta South was a unilateral decision of his Accord Party counterpart, urging the governor to stop basking in the euphoria of such political statement.
“Even the Governor knows that it is not possible. Mind you, we are political parties aiming to capture power. We will definitely field candidate in Delta South,” Nkwoala said.
While he lauded the governor’s three-point agenda of peace and security, human-capital and infrastructural development, he said the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the state should be prepared to lose the council polls billed for October 25.
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