High stake brinkmanship and politicking have come to signpost Delta State guber race as Chief Great Ogboru, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Delta State has debunked claims contained in a press statement issued by the Chief O’rtega Emerhor governorship campaign, which claimed that he (Ogboru) has agreed to step down for their candidate. Members of Ogboru campaign team claim that their man is too popular to step down for Emerhor whom they described as a political greenhorn.
The Emerhor campaign team had alleged that Ogboru had stepped down for the APC candidate in Saturday polls but Ogboru, in reaction to the O’rtega statement described Emerhor as an “Extremely irresponsible politician who is unfit to be Governor of any state in Nigeria.”
Ogboru had continued to insist that he was the man to beat as he considered himself far more popular than Emerhor among the people of Delta Central. He openly declined a debate where the PDP candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa, was absent, claiming he would not participate in the debate because his major opponent Okowa was absent. He ignored the presence of Emerhor at that debate.
A visibly angry Chief Ogboru ruled out stepping down for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, who he said cannot win even 20% of the total votes cast in the Delta governorship election even if he has the support of the current political structure in the nation and state behind him.
“I cannot step down for a man who can’t score 10% of the votes that I can muscle in an election,” he said.
“I also have no intention of joining the APC where the only credible person there is General Muhammadu Buhari.
“Let the people of Delta State determine who they want to govern them. O’rtega is not on ground anywhere in the state. He will not get 20% of the votes even if the entire state government structure is put behind him.
“He is irresponsible and unfit to be a governor to have authorized that statement. The man who just goes to the public to say I have endorsed him. He is a liar. I will not endorse anyone. NEVER! Ortega is extremely irresponsible,” Ogboru added.
Ogboru also dismissed talks that he has been negotiating with the committee set by the UPU to unite the candidates describing the committee as inexistent and a mere propaganda being peddled by O’rtega.
