A major gathering of All Progressives Congress leaders from Delta Central convened at the Petroleum Training Institute Conference Centre over the weekend, drawing a broad range of influential figures and exposing once more the unsettled politics within the party. The event produced strong pledges of support for President Bola Tinubu and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, yet the absence of the Ovie Omo-Agege bloc cast a long shadow over the meeting and revived questions about the direction of the party reconciliation ahead of the 2027 elections.
The hall filled steadily as leaders from the eight local government areas of Delta Central took their seats. Party officials enforced strict security restrictions and limited mobile phone use to keep discussions focused. Minister of State for Labour Festus Keyamo, former NEXIM Bank Executive Director Stella Okotete, Senator Ede Dafinone and other senior figures formed the core of the delegation. No known representative of the Omo-Agege faction was seen at any point in the deliberations, a silence that many in the room interpreted as a widening break between the two camps.
Hon Francis Waive, who represents Ughelli North, Ughelli South and Udu Federal Constituency, delivered the most pointed remarks of the day. He reminded the audience that Delta Central once supplied nearly sixty percent of the state’s total votes in the early years after Delta was created in 1991. He warned that the region now accounts for barely half of that number, despite the absence of conflict or natural disaster that could explain such a drop. He cited several local governments that produced more than fifty thousand votes in earlier cycles but now fall far below those figures.
Waive urged leaders to take responsibility for the decline, calling for a renewed push for voter registration and stronger engagement at ward and unit levels. He insisted that every eligible young adult should be encouraged to register and that indigenes living outside the state should return home for the exercise. He argued that political influence is tied directly to voter strength and cautioned that even electoral manipulation cannot exceed the number of registered voters in any given unit. He described the coming months as crucial to restoring Delta Central’s standing in state and national politics.
The gathering also reaffirmed loyalty to Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda and expressed their full loyalty and support to work with the leader of the party at the state level, Governor Oborevwori in what many attendees described as a practical step toward consolidating the region for clear victory in 2027.
Yet the atmosphere remained marked by tension. The Omo-Agege faction had not only stayed away from this meeting but had also been absent from earlier strategic engagements, including the February visit to President Tinubu. Suspensions of several Omo-Agege-aligned chairmen in previous months signalled a leadership struggle long in the making.
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Ovie Omo-Agege, the party’s 2023 governorship candidate, retains a sizable grassroots support. His recent tours of Warri North, Ughelli and Sapele drew some crowds and reminded observers of his continued appeal.
Political analyst Dr Efe Ogbebor described the Effurun meeting as a calculated attempt by the state leadership to consolidate influence. He noted that an open endorsement of Oborevwori, paired with the absence of Omo-Agege loyalists, sends mixed signals to members of the party.
The question of voter mobilisation dominated the latter part of the meeting. Waive pledged that APC leaders would launch a district-wide operation to rebuild the region’s numbers and restore its place as Delta’s decisive voting bloc. He stressed that APC victories in the presidential and gubernatorial contests would depend heavily on Delta Central’s turnout.
With new political alignments forming across the country, the Effurun meeting stands as a clear sign that Delta APC faces a defining moment. Whether the party can reconcile its two dominant camps or heads into 2027 divided will determine not only its electoral fortunes but also its broader influence in both Asaba and Abuja.
