Date Published: 12/13/10

Delta Rerun: 'Ogo-Agege duly nominated, can't be stopped'

The call that the front-line gubernatorial contender in the  Delta State rerun election, Chief Ovie Omo-Agege, should be stopped from vying in the poll has been faulted by the Delta Progressive Movement (DPM) on the grounds that he was validly  nominated by the Republican Party of Nigeria (RPN).
Responding to a call purportedly made by the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) in Delta State that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should stop Omo-Agege from the rerun; the group described the statement as a desperate move by those whose gubernatorial bid is under threat by the candidate’s popularity and participation.
The group, however, said that the campaign to stop the RPN candidate from the rerun would fail. 

In the statement, signed by chairman and secretary respectively, the Movement said: “Ordinarily, there is no point joining issues with anybody over the eligibility of Chief Ovie Omo-Agege in the rerun poll.  But since some people masquerading as CNPP in Delta State have displayed their crass ignorance of the position of the law on an issue as simple as the substitution of candidates in an election, in a desperate attempt to foist their candidates on the people, no matter how unpopular the candidate might be, it becomes imperative to say something so that the Delta electorate is not misled.  
“The Electoral Act, both the old and the one in the works, makes it explicitly clear that a political party can substitute a candidate in an election when the need arises and it is within the time frame.  
“And there are at least two circumstances in which the substitution can be done: death or candidate’s withdrawal. Death is not anything a human being can determine but a candidate can decide to withdraw from an election and both circumstances should not be a hindrance to a party’s participation in an election, at least in the reckoning of the Electoral Act. 

“In this particular instance, the former candidate of the Republican Party of Nigeria (RPN) passed on ahead of the Delta re-run and the party decided to fill the vacuum by giving the ticket to Omo-Agege.  Due process was followed in the nomination of the new candidate. This is why it came as a rude shock that some people are asking that Omo-Agege be stopped from the re-run. 

“The call is a desperate move and is bound to fail. The authorities know too well that the RPN met all the requirements precedent to the nomination of Omo-Agege for the Delta re-run and the candidate will run in the election.  There is no stopping him.  We can only hazard a guess as to why the campaign to stop Omo-Agege from the re-run at all costs: His popularity that has failed to diminish in spite of the infamous campaign to stop him from the gubernatorial race. 

“When the Appeal Court ordered the re-run and Omo-Agege had moved to  the ACN from the PDP preparatory to the April 2011 general elections, those opposed to him must have thought the end had come for his gubernatorial ambition as the ACN is not eligible to participate in the re-run.
“But for a popular aspirant as Omo-Agege, there is always a window of opportunity in an election like the re-run. A coalition of parties spearheaded his participation in the re-run by not only offering him the RPN platform but also mobilising support for him across the state.
"The popularity of Omo-Agege appears to be the genesis of the campaign to stop him by those who are jittery of his prospects at the re-run.  And those seeking to make pecuniary gains from the campaign are echoing the sing-song: ‘Stop Omo-Agege! ‘They will fail.  If Omo-Agege had thought the April 2011 polls was all he needed to actualise his bid to serve the people of Delta and transform the state beyond anybody’s dreams, the re-run has obviously brought the actualisation of the ambition nearer.  It is God’s will, soon to be marvellous in everybody’s eyes”.