Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Former Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo‑Agege has delivered a scathing verdict on the political realignment that has reshaped Delta State, accusing Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) not out of political conviction, but out of fear of facing him again in an electoral contest. In an interview on Arise Television on Wednesday, 3 June 2026, Omo‑Agege said the governor “chickened out” of a direct political battle with him, insisting that his own political strength in Delta Central forced the governor’s hand.
“If Sheriff Oborevwori was sure that I was not a threat, he would have remained in the PDP and faced me. He left because he knows I am a threat,” Omo‑Agege declared.
The former Deputy Senate President pointed to the 2023 elections as proof of his influence in Delta Central, the senatorial district where both he and the governor hail from. According to Omo‑Agege, the APC won two of the three Senate seats in Delta State in 2023, with one of those victories coming in Delta Central in what he described as a direct political battle between himself and Oborevwori. “In Delta Central, where both the governor and I come from, I defeated him in a head‑to‑head contest. I won by over 15,000 votes and our candidate, Senator Ede Dafinone, defeated the governor’s candidate for the Senate seat,” he said.
Oborevwori, who was the PDP governorship candidate in 2023, defeated Omo‑Agege in the governorship race. The Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal subsequently upheld Oborevwori’s victory and dismissed Omo‑Agege’s petition. But Omo‑Agege has never accepted that outcome. In the Arise interview, he reiterated his long‑held position. “I did not concede defeat because I won the 2023 governorship election,” he insisted.
The former Deputy Senate President also claimed that his ongoing “thank‑you tour” across Delta State has triggered mass defections from the PDP to the APC, which he attributed to waning confidence in Oborevwori’s leadership. “As I moved around Delta State reorganising and consulting with party members ahead of 2027, there was a mass movement of people from the PDP because they no longer had faith in Governor Oborevwori,” he said.
Governor Oborevwori, however, dismissed Omo‑Agege’s claims, telling Arise Television on Tuesday that his exit had been anticipated and that it posed no threat to the APC. “We were aware of his exit, and that was why he was not serious in the context of the primaries, because he never consulted anybody, he never consulted me, he never called leaders. His departure is not a threat to us because APC is a big party,” the governor said. He emphasised that his political focus is now on President Bola Tinubu’s re‑election. “President Bola Tinubu is my biggest project and we in Delta are solidly behind him. Delta people were deceived earlier but not anymore. I can tell you categorically that no Delta person will vote against Tinubu,” Oborevwori said.
Omo‑Agege’s attack came less than two weeks after he formally resigned from the APC. In a resignation letter dated 22 May 2026, he said he would “not remain a sitting duck” in a party where he could no longer advance the interests of Delta Central. The immediate trigger for his departure was his loss in the Delta Central senatorial primary to incumbent Senator Ede Dafinone, a candidate Omo‑Agege himself had helped bring into the Senate in 2023. His exit capped months of tension that followed Oborevwori’s defection from the PDP to the APC in April 2025. Omo‑Agege had publicly urged APC members to welcome the defecting PDP leaders, but that same reception shifted the internal balance of power against him.
Now a member of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) – the party of presidential candidate Peter Obi – Omo‑Agege has positioned himself as an opposition figure in Delta State. He has declared his intention to contest for the Delta Central senatorial seat under the NDC banner. His clash with Oborevwori is not merely personal; it is a struggle over the political soul of a state that contributes massively to Nigeria’s oil revenue. As one of the most resource‑rich states in the federation, Delta’s political alignments carry significant weight ahead of the 2027 elections. With Oborevwori now in the APC and Omo‑Agege regrouping in the NDC, the stage is set for a rematch that neither man appears willing to concede.
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