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Senator Ede Dafinone is the representative of Delta Central in the upper house of the National Assembly. In this interview, the legislator, who secured re-election, discusses the recently held All Progressives Congress (APC) National Assembly primaries, the reason why the former Deputy Senate president, Ovie Omo-Agege did not receive the party’s nomination over him, and other topics. JOY ANIGBOGU presents the highlights:

You overcame Senator Omo Agege, your former colleague, who was also a previous Deputy Senate President. You are aware, as we all are, that he is a major political figure. That’s a strong statement. What do you believe caused his downfall, and what did you do correctly to gain such strong backing from the voters?

First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my party and its leaders, particularly our governor, His Excellency Sheriff Oborevwori, for the support provided during the primaries. I want to emphasize that the process was fair and open. However, when considering what went well and what didn’t, I’d like to take you back to 2023, when I participated in the Senate elections. Out of the eight local governments that constitute Delta Central, I won five of them. At that time, the Deputy President of the Senate ran for governor and secured victories in only four of the local governments within Delta Central. Fast forward to 2025, when our governor announced that members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were joining our party, the APC. At that point, myself and many APC leaders welcomed the governor into the party. However, Senator Omo-Agege refused to recognize the governor as the party’s leader and distanced himself from the process. For the past 12 months, myself and many others in the APC have gotten to know those who joined the party. We’ve built relationships, shared meals, and attended meetings to strengthen the party. Throughout this time, the former Deputy President of the Senate remained absent. Now, it’s time for the primaries, and he believes that the small faction of the party that was with him in the old APC will support him. That won’t happen. The party consists of both former PDP members and old APC members, including a significant base of support for me. Therefore, his outcome is a reflection of the fact that he stayed away from the new party and left the space vacant, which myself and others have filled to become candidates in the primaries. I should also mention that I have been involved in the politics of the state since 1998. I was a founding member of the PDP and first contested primaries for the Senate in 2006 and again in 2011. So, I’m not new to politics, and I have experience in the PDP, DPP, which later became the Labour Party, and then APC from 2014. In the 2023 elections, I entered the scene with support across all the parties active in Delta State at that time. I must say that my reputation, along with the influence of my father, who was also a senator for the same region, helped me gain access to my people and their support. Additionally, I believe I present myself as someone who is approachable. My phone number is even displayed on billboards throughout Delta Central. I maintain an open-door policy at both my home and office, inviting my people to come to me with their problems for me to address. Naturally, I can’t solve every issue, but I do my best to assist as many of my people as possible.

The report states that you received 116,000 votes, while Senator Omo-Agege got 3,643. However, Omo-Agege claims this outcome is inaccurate and insists he won clearly. How do you respond to this? After all, he has clearly disputed the announced result.

To provide you with the background on how the result could show such a large margin, he distanced himself from the party. This is a party that he expects to support him during the primaries. On April 26th, I announced my intention to run for this position again. I invited the party leaders and members to my announcement. On that day, we had chairmen of local government councils from all the local governments, as well as party leaders from every local government. It was a gathering of the most prominent figures in Delta Central politics. This declaration demonstrated the support my party was ready to offer me for this position. Senator Omo-Agege did not consult with the party, did not visit party leaders, and did not engage at any point. In fact, while we were conducting our congresses, he held parallel congresses, showing a complete disregard for the party structure and the party members. Therefore, the distance he created between himself and the party has led to today’s result. You say he has declared himself the winner, and I have seen some of his publications. However, in all of these publications, you will notice that he never mentions any numbers. He does not state how many votes he received or where he won, or where he believes the process went wrong. He comes to the table with general statements that he won. No details, no numbers, no facts, no videos, no pictures—just a statement that he won. This is not the right way to approach it. In my statement at Ugheli yesterday, I called on him to join forces with the rest of the party. We are all from the APC. This is not a war. It is party politics. The losers should be welcomed back into the party to help build it.

It appears that when you discuss his anti-party stance, his involvement in parallel meetings, and similar matters, it somewhat aligns with the story that you were a chosen consensus candidate utilized to prevent Omo-Agege from securing this nomination. I’m just wondering about the figure. What was the number again?

The count of votes, 111,262.

However, in 2023, after you were chosen in the general elections, you received only 109,000 votes to secure victory in the general elections. Why did you receive more votes during your party’s primary elections than you did in the general elections of 2023?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with members of a political party uniting to express their preferred candidate. Over the past year, I have been visiting both new and existing members of the party to inform them about my work in the Senate, provide them with updates, and offer assistance to all my constituents. The issue with the statement regarding being anointed is that it implies it was created. My position within the party is not something that was created. As I mentioned earlier, I have been involved in politics since 1998, holding various roles and contesting several times, which has earned me recognition as someone who is not just a politician but also deeply engaged in grassroots political activities. I have a foundation in Delta State that has empowered over 2,000 individuals by training young men and women in different skill development programs. I am not unfamiliar with politics. I have been in service for three years, and the party’s anointing is a reflection of the work I have done with the party and the popularity I currently enjoy. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being anointed. You mentioned something about the general election figures. I don’t believe it is appropriate to make that comparison. Since that time, we have had a substantial party registration process. Also, keep in mind that there has been a merging of members from the PDP with our party, the APC. This has increased the number of members. We also have people in the APC membership database since that time. Therefore, there was a strong interest in participation, which is evident in the numbers.

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc.Syndigate.info).