Enough Is Enough: Omo-Agege Never Instructed Dafinone To Vote Against Akpabio
By Godwin Anaughe
LAGOS NOVEMBER 11TH (NEWSRANGERS)-For a long time, supporters of Senator Ede Dafinone have been going about with a cheap and mischievous fabrication: that the Deputy President of the 9th Senate, His Excellency, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, instructed or commanded Dafinone to vote against His Excellency, Senator Godswill Akpabio in the 2023 election of Principal Officers of the 10th Senate, and that this is why the Senate President kept him at a distance for almost three years. It is a lazy, desperate lie.
We let it slide at first because it sounded utterly unwise and misguided and came like the grumbling of a pitiably servile man who knew not his right from his left upon arrival in Abuja and facing a litmus test of the power dynamics of the 3-Arm Zone for the very first time. But when one Ejiro Etaghene, speaking utterly perversely for Dafinone, took it to Crown FM and Kpoko FM radio stations to rudely and uncouthly attack the former Deputy President of the Senate, things changed. This is no longer idle talk and senseless propaganda. It is an orchestrated smear, and Dafinone is behind it. So, it deserves our response.
For the record, the Distinguished Senator Ovie Omo-Agege never ever commanded Dafinone, or anyone else, to vote against Akpabio. On the contrary, he unequivocally and openly backed Akpabio in line with the leadership of his party then, and he has nothing to apologise for. This is who Omo-Agege is: an absolute respecter of collective leadership decisions and choices of any system he belongs to.
The man playing both sides was Dafinone. He freely confided in Senator Omo-Agege that he would vote for His Excellency, Senator Godswill Akpabio, but secretly slipped off to Distinguished Senator Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari’s meetings, all for himself. If he was out in the cold with the Senate President, he should look himself in the mirror and ask whether being a Janus character is a virtue befitting the legacy he inherited in the Senate. His disloyalty did that. His double-dealing did that. Omo-Agege has no hand in it.
Here is what actually happened. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met with the leaderships of both the National Assembly and APC at Defence House, where it was decided that Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Barau Jibrin are the APC candidates for Senate President and Deputy Senate President respectively. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas and Hon. Benjamin Kalu were also endorsed for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. Omo-Agege was in the room and participated fully in those decisions. Having taken part in them, it was inconceivable that he would then turn around and direct Senator Dafinone to do otherwise.
Following Akpabio’s unopposed endorsement at that meeting, as a responsible party leader, Omo-Agege subsequently had a meeting with both Senators Ede Dafinone and Joel Onowakpo-Thomas in his Asokoro residence and shared the party’s direction with them. Upon being fully apprised of the facts and rationale of Akpabio’s endorsement, both senators firmly committed to wholly support it as loyal party leaders. That turned out to be a shameful lie. To hide that unconscionable deceit, Dafinone embarked on a childish journey of self-purification only by lying everywhere that Omo-Agege commanded him – a Senator of the Federal Republic – to vote against his party’s declared position which he didn’t have the nerve to publicly go against.
The truth is, despite committing to supporting the party’s endorsement of Senator Akpabio, a foxy Dafinone kept showing up at secret anti-party nocturnal meetings to undermine the party’s position. It was such that the Vice President, His Excellency, Senator Kashim Shettima had to personally intervene by tasking Omo-Agege to advise both senators to support the party’s position.
With the intervention of the Vice President, Senator Omo-Agege had to respectfully discuss with both Senators again. Elder Omeni Sobotie, the then Chairman of Delta State APC, and Elder Godsday Orubebe, the Director General of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege 2023 Governorship Campaign Organisation, also met with them at Transcorp Hilton Hotel and, again, they promised to vote for Akpabio.
Thereafter, Omo-Agege further asked his Senior Special Assistant, Mr. Lucky Ajokperiniovo, Esq. to arrange a meeting between both senators and His Excellency, Senator Hope Uzodimma, the Governor of Imo State. At that meeting, both leaders committed to vote for Akpabio one more time.
After the vote, Senator Onowakpo-Thomas sent a personal text message to Omo-Agege and Mr. Ajokperiniovo stating, “Instructions carried out, Akpabio has won.” With this, Omo-Agege was, as reasonably expected of every intervener, pleased that Delta State APC had ‘delivered’ in line with the party’s position.
When word later started getting around that the then two APC senators from Delta State did not vote for Akpabio, Omo-Agege innocently and stoutly stood up for them. He totally believed they were being undeservedly maligned and condemned. He never knew and could never have known that they voted against the party’s position which they had committed to fully support.
However, when incontrovertible evidence emerged that they indeed voted against Akpabio, Omo-Agege confronted Dafinone face to face, and he (Dafinone) owned up: “I voted for Yari. On principle, I could not bring myself to vote for Akpabio.” His words. His choice. His betrayal of trust.
Much later, Senator Omo-Agege met with His Excellency, Senator Godswill Akpabio to set the record straight. He went with Engr. Tuoyo Omatstuli, who had been present at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel meeting when Sobotie and Orubebe met with the two senators. Omatstuli corroborated Omo-Agege’s account of what transpired, and the Senate President was shown text messages confirming the truth of the matter. The evidence was absolutely indisputable, and he believed it. Case closed.
So, it must be extremely disgusting to the average reasonable person that instead of fully owning his choice to betray his avowed commitment to his party’s position, Dafinone continues to disingenuously hide from the consequences of his vote by hiding behind Omo-Agege’s good name in unholy engagements or through utterly wayward proxies. Omo-Agege did not compel and could never have compelled Dafinone to vote against a party position that he witnessed unopposed. That is not Omo-Agege’s style of politics. Omo-Agege could not have been a Deputy Senate President in his time if his party’s senators defied their party. So, it is unthinkable that he would command anyone to disregard his party’s position on such a highly consequential issue. Dafinone did what he did completely on his own volition. Omo-Agege did not defy the party. Dafinone did. Omo-Agege did not break trust. Dafinone did.
You cannot betray the Commander-in-Chief and leader of your own party, betray your party and betray your own word, then turn around and blame a totally innocent man who trusted you with every fiber of honour to live above board having just got you elected to the Senate. That is ungodly, and the way to get out of it is genuine repentance, not to sink deeper into more sins by smearing the innocent man who moved mountains to get you elected to the Senate. There should be a limit to dishonour.
The Most Distinguished Senator Ovie Omo-Agege will not join Dafinone in the gutter. He wishes him no ill. But he will not let his name be used to wash clean another man’s sinful disloyalty.
Omo-Agege has since left their party. He has moved on. He should be left alone to pursue his own political path in peace, rather than being constantly dragged into the internal squabbles and failures of those he left behind. He is no longer part of their party, and his name should no longer be used as a convenient excuse for their own shortcomings.
The good people of Urhobo, Deltans and indeed Nigerians now know the truth. Countless misguided media appearances by local charlatans and ingrates who are armed with only laughable and poorly connected sophistry will not rewrite it.
And we now throw down the gauntlet: If any of this is a lie, let Dafinone come out himself and say so. Let him look the Urhobo people, Deltans and Nigerians in the eye and say, on record, that he voted for Yari because Omo-Agege told him to do so. Let him say it with his own mouth. He will not. He cannot. He knows it is not true.
Godwin Anaughe Special Adviser, Strategy and Communications to Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege writes from Delta State
For advertisement placement, events coverage, media consultancy, placement of publications and further enquiries please WhatsApp 2348023773039 or email: labakevwe@yahoo.com
