One thing the Delta State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has been noted for is its early planning for elections. For the past 19 years, the PDP has been in power in Delta State.
The PDP has produced three governors since 1999, two of whom have served two terms of four years each. The current Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa is preparing for his second term as his first term will expire in May 2019.
The PDP is the only party in Delta State that has presence in every ward in the State. It was no surprise therefore that when the campaign council was recently inaugurated in Asaba, the capital of Delta State it was a carnival of sort as every notable PDP stakeholder and politician gathered to witness the epoch-making event.
The current PDP campaign organization in Delta State has some distinctive features that were crafted to produce effective results. The campaign structure has 13 directorates peopled by seasoned politicians/technocrats, 12 committees with time tested political technocrats and 25 Local Government Campaign Chairmen, Coordinators and Secretaries.
The Director-General of the PDP campaign organization, Rt. Hon. Funkekeme Solomon, noted that one distinctive feature of the campaign organization is that several tested Senior Politicians have been drafted to their local government areas to do grassroots campaign. Solomon vowed that the current campaign organization will work hard to justify the confidence reposed in it.
Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza, the publicity director of the campaign organization, who also commented on the composition of the campaign organization, rated it as the best ever in the history of PDP in Delta State. Osuoza noted that every ethnic nationality in Delta State was ably represented in the campaign team and this would give all shades of people a sense of belonging. Ifeanyi Osuoza also commended Barrister Kingsley Esiso for drafting old politicians to the local government areas for effective campaigning.
One major thing can be gleaned from this unique campaign organization is that PDP is an organized political party that plans ahead for its victory at the polls. At a time when the main opposition party seems to be sleeping or are occupied by intra-party wrangling, the PDP is at work consolidating on its structures.
At the end of the elections while PDP will be coasting home to victory, other lazy opposition parties will be giving excuses for their failure. It should be noted that the only guarantee for electoral success is hard work. Any political party that places propaganda and mudslinging ahead of effective campaign is bound to lose elections. The Governor of Delta State Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa has done very well in office as governor and the duty of the campaign organization is to sell the governor’s achievements to Deltans.
More importantly, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa is doing the turn of Delta North which should be for eight years. Delta central did eight years under Chief James Ibori and Delta South also did eight years under Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan. The campaign organization is expected to harp on the principle of power shift which is a guarantee for peace and order in Delta State. It is a principle which Barrister Kingsley Esiso, the Delta State PDP Chairman referred to as the principle of ‘turn by turnism’
On his part Prince Obaro Unuafe, the deputy director of the publicity Directorate commended the Governor of Delta State Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa for making their work easy as the governor has a lot of achievements to show in his first term. Also, Prince Unuafe noted that Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa is a man who will never say an ill word of his political opponents. Prince Unuafe believes that Dr. Okowa is too busy about the business of governance to worry his head over his political opponents or detractors. To this end, Prince Unuafe affirmed that the PDP campaign is going to be issue-based.
In conclusion, the Chairman of the Publicity Committee, Dr. Timi Tonye applauded the Delta State Chairman of PDP, Olorogun Barrister Kingsley Esiso for putting together a formidable campaign team that would drive the process of re-electing Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for a second term.
