MSD Lauds Delta PDP Publicity Secretary for Articulate Response to APC’s Statement on Sheriff Oborevwori

The Movement for Stronger Delta, (MSD) has expressed disappointment over the position taken by a group, the Delta State Concerned PDP Leaders Forum, which was contained in its reaction to a statement by the Delta State Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza; a rejoinder to an earlier Press Release issued by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

In the the rejoinder to the APC statement, signed by its Publicity Secretary, one “Dr”. Wilson Omene, titled: “Delta 2023: Okowa picked Sheriff Oborevwori to cover his tracks of thievery,” the PDP State Publicity rose gallantly to the occasion, in defence of the libelous opposition statement as it is expected of him, debunking the allegation, obviously aimed to mock and bring to disrepute, the character of one of the governorship aspirants of the PDP.

And rightly too, the PDP State Publicity Secretary, Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza, a seasoned craftsman in deconstructing and dealing with APC’s dubious, counter-progressive propaganda, understood the undercurrents of the spontaneous knee-jerk opposition reaction to a social media Facebook post without any official verification, and felt that the matter was a call to duty for his office.

MSD is greatly disturbed and disappointed that the group, which claims to be a forum of some concerned PDP Leaders, in its statement, signed by one Engr. Aruoture M. Efe, who claimed to be their spokesman, allowed itself to be seemingly overwhelmed by emotions and sentiments, in its reading of the PDP State Publicity Secretary’s Press release.

We are not quite certain, however, if this obvious misjudgment of the intent and purpose of the PDP’s quite articulate response to the opposition party’s attack on the character of the person of the Governor and an equally prominent personality in the Speaker of the House of Assembly, may have been influenced by the elaborate pun on the name of the Speaker, “Sheriff” who, like many others, has also indicated an interest in running for the elective office of the governor of Delta State.

But we are nevertheless appalled that the group could be so vexed and frontally censorious, to the point of stating mischievously that: “The press statement obviously presents a false believe (sic) that the leadership has adopted Rt. Hon. Sheriff as the anointed candidate of our party to the detriment and disfavour of other aspirants who are also aspiring for the same office.”

This is indeed unfortunate, as a critical look at the PDP response could not locate anywhere the allusion was made to the effect that “the leadership has adopted Rt. Hon. Sheriff as the anointed candidate of our party to the detriment and disfavor of other aspirants’ vying for the ticket to the same office.

For clarity’s sake, MSD calls attention to the following excerpts from the PDP response to APC by Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza viz:  “First of all, we are very amused that the APC has chosen to believe a source who posted the information on Facebook. This is what “Dr.” Omene wrote: ‘Information spread on Monday 14th March by popular and controversial journalist Fejiro Oliver, publisher of SECRET REPORTERS, that the Delta State Governor has thrown his weight behind the incumbent Speaker of the House of Assembly’.

“Is this not even a clear indication, if ever Deltans were in doubt, that APC is not a serious political party and should not be taken seriously by any well-meaning and discerning Deltan? A party that always believes in rumour mongers and rabble-rousers as their source of information?”

We ask Deltans to judge, from the above excerpts, where it was stated or even inferred, that Rt. Hon Sheriff Oborevwori has been adopted by the leadership of the PDP, as claimed by the group of concerned Delta PDP Leaders.

It is possibly obvious that perhaps the group may have been carried away by the expression in Dr. Osuoza’s statement that: ‘In fact, assuming without conceding, since our dear leader Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has not spoken yet,…’ in arriving at its conclusion of endorsement of Sheriff Oborevwori, but Indeed, anyone with an elementary understanding and comprehension of English Language, will know that assumption is a belief without proof; something not taken for granted. It is an idea or speculation that has not been proven or manifested in reality.

We are upset by the insinuation and unfounded claims of the group, and especially disheartened by its sly hint at undermining the efficient, prompt, robust, and impressively consistent efforts of the hardworking State Publicity Secretary of our great Party in Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza, in cutting the opposition to size and neutralizing whatever gains their obtuse and asinine propaganda would have achieved otherwise.

Dr. Osuoza is a tremendous asset to the PDP and one held in high regard by party faithful and supporters. He has endeared himself to them with exceptional diligence, unwavering focus, unquestionable loyalty, commitment to duty and a hard work ethic in fencing off the numerous tantrums, diatribes, personality jibes, and false claims thrown at him, to weaken his resolve and to ostensibly run down the ruling PDP administration and its officials.

MSD states unequivocally that Dr. Osuoza did the right thing by rising to the occasion in response to a vicious and calculated attack on prominent party members and government officials. Attacks from opposition publicists should normally be responded to by the publicity office of the attacked party and it was therefore apt and commendable that Dr. Osuoza understood his responsibility and was alive to his duty. He rose to the occasion and fired back from all cylinders, as he usually does admirably, without cringing.

Dr. Osuoza’s rising to debunk and deride the contemptuous insinuations aimed to defame one of the governorship aspirants of the PDP was a step taken aright, and we commend his sharp sense of righteous indignation and declare categorically that indeed, what he did in this instance, would also have been replicated with exact passion and articulation, if the unwarranted attack on the character, reputation, and office of Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori and His Excellency, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, had been done directly against any of the other PDP aspirants or officers in the State.

We believe strongly that all our aspirants and indeed our noble and distinguished leaders, elders, statesmen and women, and all members of the PDP, including the leaders Forum and Engr. Efe himself, are all assets to the party, and will be defended robustly by the office of the State Publicity Secretary, whether they are contesting to fly the party’s governorship flag or not, if the opposition takes an unwholesome swipe at any of them.

Our members, especially our guber aspirants at this auspicious time, deserve to be protected against predatory attacks from opposition quarters that seek to run any of them down or undermine their reputation and capacity. The duty of the State Publicity Secretary of the party is to respond to such unwarranted public space attacks and that was exactly what Dr. Osuoza did. We commend and appreciate his timely effort.

MSD is firm in its position that the diatribe of the Concerned Delta PDP leaders is indeed misguided and uncalled for and we had expected that as members of a Concerned PDP Leaders Forum, which they want everyone to believe that they truly are, they ought to understand that, rather than come out the way they did with their invective in the public space, they would have been expected to channel whatever observation they have to appropriate quarters in the State Party hierarchy for proper interrogation.

We believe that doing so would have offered them an opportunity to interact with the party leadership, which would have, amongst other clarifications, highlighted the duties and responsibilities of the Publicity Secretary of the party, especially at a time like this.

Wisdom, according to Eccl 10; 8-10, is profitable to direct, because wisdom considers the best and safest way in every decision and we are convinced that maybe in the end, they would have seen reason and understood that the press release issued by their spokesman was unnecessary.

We call on leaders, supporters and other faithful of our great party to appreciate the fact that the times we are entering demand great vigilance, watchfulness, carefulness and a unity of purpose. It is not the time to put up divisive tendencies as Delta PDP works towards the emergence of the Pan-Delta candidate who will fly the party’s flag as governorship flagbearer.

The rules are there to guide every party leader and faithful and it is important that we acquaint ourselves with them, especially as the primaries approach.

Of course, it is imperative to point out that Governor Okowa (Ekwueme) as our party leader, has already pledged that the PDP will provide a level playing field for all the aspirants. This is what is needed and all the aspirants should therefore, go about strategizing and making necessary preparations in tandem with this assurance.

They should also realize and accept that, while individual or group interests may be paramount, it’s only one of them that will win at the end of the exercise.

MSD urges that the preparations should be carried out with a great sense of responsibility and a positive attitude with less emotion but with Godly love. And that at the end of the primary, the party faithful will congregate again to celebrate as one family and create the much-needed ambiance of love, peace, and unity necessary to be in place as we go into the campaign onslaught, for the party to win and the party’s candidate to take over as governor.

The goal, after all said and done, is to achieve a #Stronger Delta for all Deltans… This is the SIMPLE agenda.

MOVEMENT FOR STRONGER DELTA, (MSD)