Delta Senator Vows An Itsekiri Man Would Not Succeed Him

‘Over My Dead Body’ — Delta Senator Vows An Itsekiri Man Would Not Succeed Him

"Senator Manager vowed that over his dead body will he relinquish the seat to anyone from Itsekiri extraction," one of the legislators present at the meeting stated.

James Manager, the Senator representing Delta South senatorial district in the National Assembly, has vowed that only “over his dead body” would he relinquish his seat to anyone from Itsekiri extraction.

Manager was said to have made the vow during a meeting with councillors from Isoko South and Isoko North legislative arms held at Emevor, Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State, last weekend.

Briefing SaharaReporters on the outcome of the meeting, one of the leaders, who preferred not to be named, said: "Senator Manager vowed that over his dead body would he relinquish the seat to anyone from Itsekiri extraction.

"He told us that if Isoko is not ready for the Senate, even if it’s 100 years, he will remain in the senate, and will never leave the seat for any Itsekiri man. Don't forget, the Itsekiri is in the minority."

According to the councillor, Manager further told them that "under normal circumstances, an Itsekiri man is not supposed to be Governor in Delta State when the seat was zoned to Delta South".

"It was supposed to be given to an Ijaw man with the largest population, or an Isoko man, not an Itsekiri man with scanty population. But the whole thing was forcefully taken and given to an Itsekiri man," he was quoted as saying.

"What are ex-governors going to the Senate to do? They don't have anything to offer rather than bench warming. Since the privilege of signing cheques and giving approvals are no longer there as such, the Senate is very boring for them. As a result, they skip sittings and travel overseas to enjoy themselves.”

Our source further disclosed that the senator, referred to the member representing Warri North Constituency in Delta State House of Assembly, Michael Diden, also known as Ejele, who is also vying for the senatorial seat, as a rascal who is not worthy of his position.

Commenting on the rumoured defection of former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and the political situation in the state, the state chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), and chairman, Isoko South Local Government Area, Itiako Constantine Ikpokpo, noted that many people were holding back from making comments on Uduaghan's rumoured defection out of the respect for former Governor James Ibori and current Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.

He said: "He knows, but the gloves may come off soon from the feelers I get. A man must be stable enough to know what he wants. There is too much falsehood in the public space because he is the only one talking now.

"Elections are won and lost on the ballot and James Manager and Michael Diden (Ejele) are no pushovers. Dr Uduaghan is our leader and we love him but I am worried that he is creating the image of an unstable person and he is more than that.”