Delta 2019: Great Ogboru warns against imposition

*Chief Great Ogboru

(Nigeria) A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Delta State and governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the 2015 governorship election in the state, Chief Great Ogboru, has warned against imposition of candidates in the party ahead of the 2019 general election.

He stressed  that the party should learn its lesson from the loss it faced during the Warri South House of Assembly by-election.

The warning by Ogboru came as a member of the APC Board of Trustees, Chief Frank Kokori, disclosed that some persons in the state chapter of the party were bent on perpetual being the party’s governorship candidate in the state with attempts to hijack the party.

Speaking at Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state, during the inauguration of the Light of APC pressure group headed by Ossai Abe, Ogboru said: “I was very surprised while listening to the secretary to the PDP national convention, who said that they had learned their lesson and that they will no longer impose candidates but rather, they will work with community leaders. I believe as an opposition party in Delta State, that is what we should be doing.

“If we allow imposition in APC like what happened in the Warri South House of Assembly by-election, we will face similar encountered in future cases but I believe we have learned a bitter lesson from that election because we imposed a candidate.

“I have only one wish for the APC which is that our APC should be a party run by the people of the state, I do not make a chairman from my bedroom but I insist that the people must make their leader because it is only when they do this that we can come together and plan with the leaders to effect change and that is the only time they can defend themselves.”

On his part, Chief Kokori while addressing members of the group, said: “From what I see in the party, those who we placed to run the party are those who take the party as a professional chairman, professional secretary, professional treasurer and professional gubernatorial candidate as some will say, I am the governorship candidate of APC and they enjoy being professional governorship candidate therefore, other people coming should not be given any opportunity.

“Light of APC is just a pressure group. Today is a new beginning and it is the first step in going into Government House because we want good governance. With electronic voting which had been proposed for the 2019 election, it will be one man, one vote and with that, who can defeat Chief Ogboru?”