A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, Chief Ayiri Emami, in this interview speaks on politics in his home state ahead of the 2027 poll. He also describes many Nigerian politicians as having no particular ideological leaning before joining party politics. Adedayo Akinwale brings excerpts:
There is a sudden gale of defection into APC by governors in the South-south region. What is responsible for this? Is the ruling party taking over the region in 2027?
I’m a true supporter of Asiwaju. I don’t just support because of money, I support because of my conviction that Asiwaju might turn things around. Because the way the nation was going, some of us knew that the nation was going to sink. So, some of us were the low voices. We were almost crucified in the Niger Delta region when we were supporting Asiwaju but we thank God.
The most important thing in life is when you are convinced and you have a belief, you follow that belief. A lot of people don’t have ideology in terms of political leaning and how they live. But some of us still manage to have our own personal ideology and believe.
So, I believe in the man, I believe in his person and I believe in his virtue because as a young man, I have sat with him. I have listened to him and I have seen him performing.
I have a lot of conviction that if Asiwaju becomes the president, we can turn things around. But then in our region, a lot of people were fighting Asiwaju, not that Asiwaju was not a good person but they were fighting him because Asiwaju knows too much. I have several conversations with a lot of people from my region. They will tell you, oh, we prefer people from the North because they don’t know more about our area. If Asiwaju comes, he knows everything and really, being in the office, a lot of loopholes have been blocked. So you can see people crying.
They are not just crying that Nigeria is not moving forward but because of those shady things they were doing, Asiwaju begins to knock them down. Some of the promises he made to us that he will make Warri Port work. In two years, he has voted money for the Port now and even the Omadino-Escravos roads that will pass through Gbaramatu. There are a lot of things going on before they will do the paperwork between NNPC, Chevron, NDDC. So a lot of things are going on.
And when people see that, he actually has our interests. So, I think those are the convictions with his policies that made the governors from the South-South to say no, if we didn’t support him before now, now the man is doing what is going to favour us, so there is a need to support him. I think his performance gave the conviction to those people.
So for me, I’m happy that they are coming because the type of work I was doing in 2022, 2023, I’m going to be more relaxed. We are seeing one or two developments in our area. So that’s enough. That alone is enough for the South South governors and any governor to defect, having seen that the man is a progressive person. Those were some of the things I saw in him that made me to support Asiwaju
We were told that when the current governor of Delta state joined APC, many of you didn’t welcome him, and what is the state of the party and how much in-roads do you think Asiwaju will make in the region and the state in 2027?
You said when the present governor was coming to join the APC in Delta, a lot of people did not welcome him. I was not part of it. I, Ayiri Emami, was not part of it because first, my interest is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And if the man said he’s coming to support Mr. President, who am I to say I’m not going to support him? I only have a little difference with him. The difference was that if you are coming, those that you met there, please try and carry them along. That was just my issue. My position has been that if Sheriff was coming, Mr. President and leaders of the party, please, ensure that those that have been there should not be oppressed.
Let us fashion a way that everybody can work together. As of today, I know there is a lot of talk among the leaders to ensure that everybody work together. Whatever I have to do, my support for Sheriff is because he too is supporting Mr. President. In 2023, I did not support Sheriff. I supported Ovie Omo-Agege but Sheriff won. But Mr. President too won the election. So today, Sheriff is supporting Mr. President. So I have no choice than to support Sheriff. So I’ve never been part of those ganging up against him. I’m not a sycophant.
People see the Labour Party as the strongest in Delta, considering its performance in the last election. Has the perception changed?
Who are those in the Labour Party? Labour Party is PDP, APC and everything. They don’t have one particular structure. It’s not just Labour, it’s a political calculation.
But I don’t think that will happen in 2027 because we are all in one place. All the actors are in one boat as we speak in Delta. Although like what I said, consultation is still going on among the leaders. But I know that at least 80 per cent are together right now. I cannot tell you that 20 per cent are not important. So we must do everything because the 20 per cent or 30 per cent that is left is still important because in politics, everybody is important. Nobody has to be left behind. So as of today, it’s looking more brighter than what happened in 2023.
Are you saying that the LP has no foothold in Delta state?
No, I said Labour Party is ‘all’ party. Any aggrieved politician in any party is a potential LP person, because I try to check those who were in LP and they are either APC or PDP. It doesn’t have structure but aggrieved people from APC, PDP anywhere. They are just aggrieved, they don’t know why they’re going to LP.
How do you assess the performance of the Niger Delta Development Commission, since Tinubu came?
If I want to talk about NDCC, some people will say it’s because Samuel Ogbuku, the Managing Director is my friend but if he isn’t performing, I will come out and say what you are doing is wrong. But, I think for the first time, NDDC has a proper vision and a structure and because of the leadership of the NDDC, the chairman and the MD, I think they are doing very well.
This is the first time you can see a pocket of projects across the region and they will go and commission meaningful projects like the Omadino-Escravos road. The initiative came through the NDDC – a joint venture with some oil companies — Chevron, NNPC and now the state government. So, we can have road from Warri to Escravos and you know what that means. So it takes a very good leader to have that kind of vision and how to direct their Board. What we used to know about NDDC before now, all our money used to end up in Abuja. But today, this is the first time you will see the board chairman and the MD working together as one. I can tell you about my own area, particularly the Itsekiri area. We think, with his own vision and idea of the board, they have been able to light up almost all the community, road projects are going on. If he’s not doing well, I’ll tell him. But as I see it today, I think the man is performing.
So, if he’s performing, where is the call for his removal and the allegations of plotting against the president coming from?
I will use myself as an example. My younger brother got involved in some shady deal of cannabis. As I speak with you today, I don’t know any NDLEA officer. The reason why I don’t know any NDLEA officer is because I don’t get myself involved. I can know a military officer because of our terrain – insecurity in our area. But I don’t have anything to do with NDLEA. But if you look all over the media houses, social media, they are saying he is Ayiri’s brother. So when somebody has affinity somewhere, people try to take advantage. When that unfortunate incident happened, a lot of people said oh, Ayiri has been carrying this boy with a private jet all over. And I knew nothing about that.
It was surprising to me that my brother got involved. And I said, he should face the law. So, if today they say Sylva is linked to coup plotting. What do you expect politicians to say next? Politicians will tell you, “oh, he is Sam’s friend!.” Even if the man is sleeping, they will definitely find a way to link the man because people are envious and jealous of the young man. I’m not his spokesman. But I will say it as it is.
What do you have to say about the state of PDP, do you see the Ibadan convention reviving the party?
I’m not a member of PDP so sometimes I don’t like poke-nosing, I like to concentrate on my own party. If PDP is going down, it is to my advantage. If I have a way to ensure that PDP dies so that I will have less stress, I will do it. I pray that PDP doesn’t get revived.
Don’t you think that your position is selfish?
Even God said love yourself before you love your neighbour. If you get into a flight, you have to wear the mask for yourself before helping others. So if PDP is dying, why would I go and resurrect them and we are in the same race.
What is your take on the controversy surrounding the stadium project in Delta state?
I will never get myself involved in it
because the man behind it, he’s not my friend. He used to be my brother, but as somebody that used to speak the truth, I will say what I know. When Amaju Pinnick came with that project on a courtesy to the then Olu of Warri and said he wanted to site this stadium in Ugborodu, I told him, I was speaking to him as a brother and a friend. Then I said, let me suggest something to you, if you want this project in a remote area, like what you’ve explained, people want this thing to get nearer to the community, nearer to the people where they don’t have access, take this project to Itsekiri where the logistics issue is closer, just about 10 minutes to Warri. The money you are talking about you will use all the money for logistics. As we speak today, I don’t talk to Amaju. I don’t see any reason why I would talk to him. But when you ask me this question, I have to speak on it. Telling you that the terrain and the money they brought, Amaju just wanted to say, oh, I did the stadium in the community. I don’t know what you want to showcase to people when you know that the fund in question cannot do the project. So today the project becomes an abandoned project. It was a fantastic idea. So some of us knew that money was not enough for the project.
