By Fred EDOREH
Olorogun David Edevbie has said the bond of friendship between him and the Governor of Delta State, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, is intact and cannot be broken, with or without politics.
Edevbie who is the frontline and most widely accepted aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party for the Delta 2023 Governorship race disclosed this during a consultation visit to delegates of Ika North East, Governor Okowa’s home local government area.
Describing Okowa as a good man, he asked the delegates to thank him on his behalf for the love and care he has shown him and urged them to discountenance any rumour of disagreement between them as unfounded and mere politics, assuring that there is no quarrel and there cannot be.
Giving details of their relationship, Edevbie said they have always supported each other regardless of the fact they contested against each other in the 2014 primaries.
“I was here in 2014 and some of you might remember what I said then. If you recall, I talked about us as a football team and I said your son is Number 9 and I am Number 10, that if your son scores, we will all support him, and your son scored and I supported him fully from day one. And that is why he appointed me his Commissioner of Finance for four years. You don’t put someone you don’t trust to be in charge of your money. Your son is sensible, so he picked somebody he trusted to manage the state funds for him. After I did four years on that, he picked me again to be his Chief of Staff for two years. And I have given him my full support since he became Governor in 2015.
“This is an opportunity for me to ask you to thank him on my behalf. He appointed me even though I ran against him in 2014. Throughout the time I worked for him, he didn’t treat me like a subordinate. He treated me like a friend, like a colleague. That is unusual in Nigeria,” Edevbie said.
“He also took care of me. I didn’t have to look for money as a Commissioner. I will be sitting in my house and he will send one of the other son, Raymond, to come and see me and Raymond will drop something for me. When I ask him what for, he will say “Oga say make I drop am for you.” When we meet at the office and after the day’s work, I will remind him, “Sir, somebody dropped me something from you, what is it meant for?” He will reply, “I know you don’t have money.” I will say “Yes sir, I don’t have money” and he will say “That is for you.” He did it not once, not twice, not thrice. Ahhh, Ekwueme…He is a good man.
“Anything you hear today is politics. He is my personal friend and if you ask him, he will confirm it. We are friends. There is no enmity between us, none at all. You know, in the court of the king, the king doesn’t have enemies. It is the courtiers, the people who don’t really know the history, those who got into the court through talks and tricks, they are the ones who say “Oga and that man are quarrelling.” But it is lie, there is no quarrel at all, there is nothing like that. You know, in the same court you have jesters and clowns. There are plenty. They are the ones that talk nonsense, those who don’t know but claim to know. They are like somebody listening to a football commentary on radio but claims to be more conversant with the match than the players on the pitch. We have come together and we will always be together, forget anything to do with politics.”
Edevbie who spoke mostly in Pidgin English also commended the leadership of the party and delegates of Ika North East for the enthusiasm with which they received him and the love and support shown him by the youths of Governor Okowa’s home town.
“Make I start first by thanking the Chairman. Dem say the meeting go start by 1:30 and the people were ready by 12:30. But I am not surprised, na because na your son be Governor and your son is a punctuality Governor, he is a digital Governor, he is a modern Governor. So, we cannot expect anything less. Even my people dey talk am when we reach here say everywhere is so calm. This is the only place I have been where even youths support kola. Youths, una try. Una well done.”
