Ijaw stakeholders have taken strong exception to recent remarks by former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, over Senator Joel Onowakpo Thomas, with the Director General of the 2023 Onowakpo Campaign Organisation, Chief Michael Jonny, leading a blunt rebuttal grounded in firsthand campaign experience.
Jonny, who said he was involved “from the beginning of the campaign to the point where God gave us victory in Delta South,” argued he was well placed to respond to Orubebe’s claims.
“Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have responded to Elder Orubebe, but for the fact that I was directly involved… I am in a better position to respond,” he said.
Disputing Orubebe’s account of his role during the 2023 senatorial race, Jonny stated categorically:
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“Orubebe did not follow Senator Joel Onowakpo Thomas to any campaign ground in any community. The only time he was around us was when we accompanied Senator Omo-Agege.”
He narrowed that involvement to a single outing:
“We accompanied Orubebe to Ojobo and Ogobagbene. He dropped ₦3 million for the Ogobagbene people… Those were the only communities he took us to.”
Jonny contrasted that with the campaign’s wider spending footprint:
“Throughout our campaign, there was no community where we spent less than ₦500,000 to ₦1 million. That is our record.”
He went further, questioning the accuracy of Orubebe’s public statements:
“As someone who stands before God to preach, one would expect truthfulness. But I watched him lie publicly.”
Jonny also broadened his critique to Orubebe’s public service record:
“As Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, he cannot point to one project in any community we visited during the campaign. I was there. I witnessed everything.”
On internal party dynamics, he alleged that Orubebe’s post-primary role was divisive:
“When he joined APC after the primaries, he introduced a divide-and-rule system that destabilized the party structure we had built.”
He cautioned that the former minister’s political calculations could inflame inter-ethnic tensions:
“Now he wants to become governor in 2031… No reasonable Ijaw man will support that. It will provoke other ethnic groups against the Ijaw people.”
Jonny also raised concerns about equity in representation:
“Isoko has the opportunity now. They have only served one term and have not even completed it, yet he wants to take it from them.”
He challenged Orubebe to demonstrate tangible impact:
“Let him name one or two individuals whose lives he has transformed. That is my position.”
Backing Jonny’s position, the Senior Special Assistant to Senator Onowakpo, Mr Ibiakpor Ezebiri, said Orubebe’s comments were personal and not reflective of the Ijaw nation.
“The remarks made by Elder Godsday Orubebe are strictly personal views and should not be taken as the position of the Ijaw nation or any broader stakeholder group,” Ezebri stated.
He warned against elevating individual grievances into collective positions:
“We cannot allow personal sentiments or recollections of past political engagements to be presented as the reality of today. That would be misleading and unfair.”
Ezebiri maintained that Senator Onowakpo’s performance should be the basis of public assessment:
“The Distinguished Senator was elected to perform lawmaking, representation, and constituency development, and he has continued to deliver on those mandates.”
The responses follow Orubebe’s remarks during a consultation visit by senatorial aspirant, Hon. Michael Diden, where he revisited past campaign roles and expressed dissatisfaction over post-election relations.
The exchange signals rising political tensions within Delta South as stakeholders position ahead of the 2027 general elections.
