Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has switched his support to the former Principal Secretary to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, David Edevbie, as the consensus governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
Close sources to the governor said that Uduaghan’s decision may not be unconnected with the decision by stakeholders in the state to dump Tony Obuh, the presumed candidate of the governor for Edevbie as the consensus governorship candidate of the party.
Our correspondent reliably gathered that the decision to dump Obuh was reached at about 5.00am Monday, after an all night meeting involving all stakeholders in PDP in the state.
Already, the Minister of Niger Delta, Steven Oru, has been asked to inform President Goodluck Jonathan on the decision of the Delta PDP stakeholders.
Edevbie, who was a former Commissioner for Finance during the James Ibori regime, hails from Ughelli in Delta State.
It was gathered that the decision of the stakeholders in the state to adopt Edevbie was as a result of the refusal of 12 aspirants from Delta North to step down for one another.
Edevbie was on Thursday adopted as the consensus candidate by the Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU) and all other aspirants from the Delta South and Delta Central zones were asked to step down for Edevbie.
In the new calculation, the anointed candidate of the state governor, Obuh, may eventual be the running mate to Edevbie.
According to inside sources in PDP, “The hands of Uduaghan who is determined to ensure power transfer to Delta North was tied because of the refusal of the 12 aspirant to adopt a consensus candidate.
“The choice of Edevbie is also to placate the Ibori political family and ensure a soft landing for Uduaghan,” a top Delta State government source said.
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