Ewherido: The political tremor on ground

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
Senator Pius Ewherido who died last Sunday at 50 was a phenomenal
politician whose exit from the politicalplatform would indisputably
alter the political permutations and projections where he plied his
trade.
Senator Pius Ewherido's death would alter many things in Delta and nay, Nigeria.
First, it removes his political party, the Democratic Peoples Party,
DPP from reckoning in the Senate being that he was the only DPP
senator in the Senate.
Besides, until his death, he was the leading personality from his
Urhobo ethnic group with any visible role in the Federal Government.
It was not surprising that in his last interview with Vanguard on the
heels of his 50th birthday last May, that he lamented the seeming
abandonment of the Urhobo ethnic nationality by the present
administration.
With his exit and at least until a replacement is made, his absence
would inevitably remind the dominantUrhobos in Delta State of their
detachment from the Federal Government.
Senator Ewherido
In Delta State where he was the leading light of the political
opposition, the death of Ehwerido would be of great consequence to all
major political forces.
For the Peoples' Democratic Party, PDPit removes one of the major
obstacles to the party's desire for total hegemony. It would be
recalled that Ehwerido had in 2011 defeated Chief Iyoghota Amori, one
of the leading chieftains of the PDP in the Delta Central senatorial
election. His foe, Amori is styled as the Leader in Delta political
circles and had in the past served as Political Adviser to both
Governors James Ibori and his successor, Emmanuel Uduaghan.
Before going to the Senate, Ewherido had spent two terms in the Delta
State House of Assembly where he variously served as deputy speaker
and acting speaker. In his second term in the State legislature, he
made a bold attempt for the governorship at the twilight of the Ibori
era. Though he was not successful in the PDP governorship primaries of
2007, the sheer muscle he mustered made an impression on, Ibori who by
some accounts made desperate efforts to appease him.
Ewherido it was learnt, refused to sacrifice his principled stance on
the governorship primaries for the allegedly mouth-watering offer to
him.
So, the 2007 PDP governorship primaries became the point of departure
for him from the PDP as he subsequently joined forces with the
political opposition in the state.
His decision to join forces with the DPPand its gubernatorial
candidate, Chief Great Ogboru in the 2011 election inevitably caused
trepidation in the PDP which according to some sources also made
efforts to woo him back to the party.
The party, however, failed and it was not surprising that the late
Ewherido was a major factor in the PDP's disastrous showing in the
elections in Delta Central in 2011. The trophy for Ewherido and the
DPP was the defeat of Amori in the hands of Ewherido in the senatorial
contest which the PDP did not appeal. The defeat of Amori was like
Chief Tony Anenih losing a major political office election.
As he settled down in the Senate it seemed clear to his watchers that
Ewherido was destined to be a major player in the succession of the
incumbent governor of Delta State, Uduaghan.
It was not surprising that perceptions that Ewherido would contest for
the governorship in 2015 would affect his relationship with his one
time politicalally, Ogboru. Whether Ogboru who hadcontested the
governorship four different times in 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2011 was
aiming for an encore has not been established. However, for the better
part of this year till his death, Ewherido' and Ogboru' associates had
been at logger heads over the course of the DPP.wherido had through
the influential Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN chieftain in Delta
State, Temi Harriman made contact with national leaders of the party
in his preparation towards joining the All Progressives Congress, APC.
He had according to sources won majorconcessions for his associates in
the APC in Delta State and was being regarded as the party's
gubernatorial candidate in waiting.
With Ewherido as candidate for the APCin 2015, it was expected that he
would have been a major obstacle to the PDP.
Besides his formidable political structure and alliances was also the
major advantage he had in his family connections.
Though Urhobo, he is married into the Bozimo family in Ijaw in the
Delta South Senatorial district while his mother is Isoko also from
the Delta South. The marital and maternal alliances would inevitably
have counted very well for him ahead of 2015.
"It is a major development on ground and will shake many things," a
major strategist for one of the leading 2015 gubernatorial hopefuls in
the Delta State said hours after Ewherido's deathwas confirmed.
For the PDP, the exit of Ewherido regrettable as it is for many, would
inevitably soften the ground for the ruling party in the state.
For the distraught opposition in the state, the death has created a
major problem as Ewherido until his death was seen as the only
formidable force to counter whatever option that wouldcome from the
PDP.
Even more distressing for the opposition is the fact that in most of
his dealings with the APC national leadership, Ewherido acted alone.
"I don't know his associates and we have been talking to him alone and
that is going to be a major setback for us in APC," one of the
chieftains of APC who facilitated his entry told Vanguardlast Sunday.
Ewherido was indeed a political colossus whose death would cause a
major tremor in Delta State.