Senate 2023: Why Chief Ede Dafinone will win

By Donald Okagbare

Barring any last-minute change in the conduct of the 2023 general elections with regards use of the innovative BVAS machine as being promoted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the 2023 general elections would turn out to be a shocker to many. The overconfidence being exuded by some PDP big-wigs would turn out to be a mirage and sure route to an excruciating heart-break in the coming polls. What some people refer to as big names is actually the problem some candidates shall face in 2023. The people are not after big names, they are after names that can connect with them and their challenges and bring succor to them.

This writer chanced upon a post in a PDP group recently and the comments were interesting. One of the comments that struck me most from Ethiope East has been reproduced below: ‘’It is true that the governor is human but please there’s a lot of things he fails to understand. There are lots of names Deltans don’t want to hear. Let me start from my local government area (Ethiope East), the opposition party has been winning the House of Assembly seat since 2011 in Ethiope East because of the person who normally got the ticket (Authur Akpowowo). Evance Iwurie got it again in 2019 and Innocent Anidi from nowhere won the election.

‘’Let me say this, the name Ighoyota Amori is like a forbidden fruit in Delta central but yet he has also gotten the ticket for senate. Delta central lost the senatorial position to DPP in 2011 because he was given the party ticket. We were able to get it back during the bye-election after the death of Pius Ewherido. We repeated the same mistake again in 2015 and Omo-Agege came in through the Labour Party to snatch it. Evelyn Oboro was another mistake which gave room for Ovie Omo-Agege second tenure as a senator. We forgot about all this stuff and still let Ighoyota Amori, whom the people don’t like, to get the senatorial ticket because of some people’s selfish interest. Our presidential candidate is another person that most Nigerians today, mostly our youths, hate so much and he went ahead to pick Okowa as a running mate. We forgot that Nigerians are going to vote based on the individual manifesto and the political background of the candidate in 2023’’.

One striking take away from this comment from a PDP stalwart is that “Ighoyota Amori is like a forbidden fruit.’’ This is the kind of man PDP could present before Urhobo people as their best material, whereas, APC has presented Chief Ede Dafinone, a man with flawless records of public service. What is before the electorate in 2023 in the Delta central senatorial contest is simply a choice between a ‘forbidden fruit’ and a man of distinctive character and uncommon grace. Ede Dafinone represents hopes of a better tomorrow, flourishing with ideas and fully equipped to deodorize the seat of honour reserved for Urhobo in the National Assembly. He will build on the burgeoning records of excellence that have been associated with Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.

One grievous error that will plague the PDP in 2023 is the iniquitous claim to ‘party is supreme’ which presupposes that every party man must defer to the supremacy of the party and vote for all candidates of their political party irrespective of the character of the candidate. What the street is saying is quite different from ‘party is supreme’. 2023 is about the supremacy of the ballot and the freedom of the voter to elect their choice of candidate irrespective of the party the voter belongs to. Blindly voting political parties has not helped the people. The outcome of the 2023 general election would be determined by the degree of betrayal of political parties by members. Chief Ighoyota Amori is a bad product and placing him side by side with the innocent-looking Ede Dafinone is one mistake that may haunt PDP for a long time.

If 2023 is about the character of the candidate, then Ede Dafinone will win. If the coming poll is about who has not offended the spirit and essence of Urhobo as a nation, then Ede Dafinone should have it. If the next senator would be voted based on merit and evidence of progressive politics over the years, Ede Dafinone is the man. If Urhobo truly desires to vote for a man who would build on the legacy of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, Ede Dafinone is the answer. If 2023 is not about entitlement and rehabilitation of a failed and distraught political demigod, then it is the time to look in the direction of a harmless dove in the person of Dafinone.

If the next election is about the search for a credible candidate without any hangover of an irresponsible past, nobody fits the bill better than Dafinone. If Urhobo desires a man who would be in the senate to serve, not a man who would lord it over the people, we should search no further, Dafinone will go for us. If we want a man who is ICT compliant in an emerging jet age of highly innovative scientific presence of mind in handling modern issues in the law-making business, the cap fits no one better than Dafinone. If Urhobo desires to have another Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, Dafinone should be the proper and fit person to take over from the DSP. Dafinone is the candidate of the DSP, they are of the same political party and would connect better with his vision for Urhobo in the coming dispensation. Dafinone should succeed Ovie Omo-Agege and not the ‘forbidden fruit’ as a PDP stalwart had described the PDP candidate. Chief Ede Dafinone is the best man for the job.

Donald Okagbare writes from Effurun, Delta State.