Okowa betrayed me, hijacked APC structures in Delta after defecting from PDP -Victor Ochei

Victor Ochei, Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) senatorial candidate for Delta north, has accused Ifeanyi Okowa, former governor of Delta, of hijacking the All Progressives Congress (APC) structure after defecting to the party.

Ochei, who was a former speaker of the Delta house of assembly, said the takeover of the party structure by Okowa and his allies left members of his camp aggrieved.

He spoke in an interview aired on Arise News on Friday, where he also recounted his political relationship with Okowa, accusing the former governor of betraying him during previous political contests.

Ochei said he left the APC because he believed the party had been taken over by politicians who joined from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“I didn’t seek any political office in the APC because I knew it was all done and dusted for those who were coming in,” he said.

“For me, in my senatorial district, it was not going to be possible because the former governor Okawa was coming to hijack everything that was there. The whole structure of the party.

“So they came to hijack the party, and it’s only natural that if I seek to do anything, I found my way out of the party and honourably did that.”

Ochei said Okowa’s entry into the APC altered the balance of power within the party in Delta, leaving his camp with little influence over political appointments and structures.

He alleged that the incoming group controlled key positions in the state, including appointments in the executive arm of government and local government councils.

“They had the local government councils, all of them were with them. All 500 councillors in the states were theirs,” he said.

“All every other political position were theirs. All APC had going into that negotiation was the party structure.”

Ochei said he expected the two camps to reach an agreement that would accommodate existing party members rather than allow one group to dominate the structure.

He said some members had left the APC, while others remained in the party but were aggrieved by the developments.

Ochei added that he had spent 11 years in the APC and remained with the party when it was unpopular.

“We were there because we believed in it regardless, just as NDC is today,” he said.

‘OKOWA BETRAYED ME, SOUTHERN GOVERNOR’

Ochei traced his relationship with Okowa to their time in the PDP, saying he supported the former governor’s political ambition before their interests diverged.

He said he backed Okowa’s bid for the senate in 2011 after the then governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, decided not to reappoint him as secretary to the state government.

According to Ochei, he persuaded Okowa to pursue an elective position instead of seeking an appointment.

He said he supported Okowa’s senatorial ambition politically and financially, adding that he helped him secure the party ticket.

However, Ochei said their relationship deteriorated as their political interests diverged, particularly during the struggle for the 2015 governorship and subsequent election campaigns.

He said that after the governorship primaries, he was offered the senate or deputy governorship tickets by the Labour Party and the APC but that Okowa advised him to consider joining Accord Party instead.

According to Ochei, Okowa argued that his defection to either of the other parties would strengthen their governorship candidates, who were from Delta central.

“He now said to me, and I quote him, that those two parties will not be good for him because they both had candidates that were from central district and me joining them will move momentum towards their side, and that would not be good for him that I should please consider going to Accord. It came from him,” Ochei said.

He said he eventually joined Accord and that Okowa discussed with him the constituencies where he should work to prevent certain candidates from gaining support.

Ochei said they initially agreed to support each other’s ambitions, with him campaigning for Okowa and former president Goodluck Jonathan while pursuing his own senatorial bid under Accord.

However, he alleged that Okowa later worked against his ambition during the campaign.

“But he betrayed me right in the middle of the campaigns,” he said.

Ochei alleged that Okowa went around telling people that they should not vote for him because it would undermine the PDP’s chances of producing a senator from Accord.

“I heard it. I didn’t want to confront him. I just wanted to see how things play out,” he said.