2019: Uduaghan Gets Nod To Represent Delta South Senatorial District

Former Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, has gotten the nod from Itsekiris to represent the Delta South Senatorial District in the Senate come 2019.

Although Uduaghan has yet to publicly declare his interest to contest the seat, the Itsekiri Movement for Good Governance has pledged to support the former governor if he decides to take a shot at the senatorial seat in 2019.

Revealing the group’s position was its president, Jolomi Oritsegbemi, who in a statement on Friday said the group believes in the ability of Uduaghan to properly represent them in the upper legislative chamber.

“It is the turn of Itsekiri to produce a senator representing Delta South and Dr. Uduaghan is the only Itsekiri man who will make us reap the dividends of democracy come 2019. He is a true son, a man of the people who believes in developments and impacting lives. Over time, he has proven this, even when he was the governor of the state for eight years. In fact, this is the kind of leader Nigerians need to move the nation forward,” said Oritsegbemi.

“It is only the Itsekiri ethnic nationality that has not produced a senator to represent the district since 1999. In the interest of equity and fair play, this should be our turn without any arguments. It is time to prove that Itsekiri people are not made to deliberately play the second fiddle to the other tribes.

“Itsekiri also had two federal constituencies, where Late Hon. Vincent Jemide and Late Hon. Sunny Dabor represented them. The two federal constituencies were to be reduced to one when Chief Chamberlain Abeki from Patani LGA, was appointed as national commissioner into the then Federal Electoral Commission, FEDECO,” revealed Mr Oritsegbemi.

The group’s decision to back Uduaghan stemmed from its claim that no Itsekiri man has represented the Delta South Senatorial District in the last 39 years. The group named Chief Franklin O. M Atake as the last Itsekiri man to represent the district since 1979.

It noted four senators who have represented the senatorial district during that period as late Senators Stella Omu and Francis Okpozo from Isoko, Chief E.K Clark and Senator James Manager from Ijaw.