Fear and anxiety over the likely loss of his political base in the coming election has driven Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa to frenzy and into the embrace of the Pastors and Church leaders in Ika Federal Constituency of Delta state. 

Dr. Okowa summoned the pastors and Church leaders to a meeting on the last day of the outgone year 2022 in his palatial home at Owa Alero, his home town, to discuss how the Churchmen can add more verve to his campaign and sway voters in the district to his side in the coming election. 

In the course of the fire fighting meeting with the clergy, he pleaded for love and empathy with him and the PDP and gave out instructions that the pastors mobilize their congregations to vote for him and PDP candidates in the coming elections. The pastors were also entreated to organize prayers and vigils for his success at the polls. 

Though he did not specifically mention Peter Obi’s rousing receptions at various churches, he reminded the pastors that the church is getting more involved in elections and that pastors are getting more assertive in instructing members on who to vote for and who to support.

Dr. Okowa thereafter released two tranches of cash of unspecified value to the pastors and churchmen.  He also gifted them with two brand new buses, one for Ika Northeast Local Government Area and the other for Ika South.

It should be recalled that Prophets, Pastors and shamans have taken over the direction of policy in Okowa’s government and since four years ago have been influencing political choices in the state. The Prophets, Pastors and Shamans are now fully embedded in his presidential campaigns and no decisions are made without their approval.

At every time in the course of his movements in this campaign, two Prophets are permanently attached to His Excellency Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa. They are allowed to listen in to the governor’s conversations with political stalwarts, aides and surrogates and can veto any agreement they disagree with. They suggest to him who to meet or avoid and how to respond to every challenge. 

It is believed that there are also traditional medicine priests attached to him but these are less visible, less intrusive and look in from a distance.

Situation in the Okowa camp of the PDP in Delta state is really getting frenetic. PDP in Ika South and Ika Northeast is in a frenzy as Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta state and vice presidential candidate of PDP is truly losing ground, right in his home. 

Made aware of his diminishing electoral chances in his home community, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa was forced to summon the pastors and Church Leaders in Ika Federal Constituency to the meeting Saturday to make sure all the pastors and Church leaders with sizeable congregations and followers are railroaded to his side to win back popularity in his home constituency.

Mr. Johnson Erimoya, a participant at the meeting said: “In his speeches and conversations with the pastors, desperation was clearly evident in his plea for support in the elections. He wants the pastors to engage their congregations on his behalf at every church service and prayer meetings. For their effort, he promised them financial support, lots of it, and also offered guarantees that all successful efforts will be rewarded”.

Chief Vincent Mgbeken, a business man from Igbodo said: “If  truly Okowa is recruiting pastors and churchmen to solicit for votes for his candidacy in his own community, then his chances at the polls in Delta state are truly limited. We are not even talking of his acceptance across Nigeria”.

“If Okowa is giving out new buses to buy votes in his own backyard, then the situation is truly bad. He will have to buy 25 brand new buses for each Local Government Area in Delta State and 774 buses for each Local Government in Nigeria. It will be injustice to buy for some and leave out the others”.

The Pastors and churchmen appear unimpressed by the gift. They complain that Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa neglected them since eight years of his reign and only remember them now because of his election.

“It is a Greek gift” said the Bishop of a Pentecostal church in Umudein street, Agbor. Continuing, he told his fellow Pastors after sharing the money given to them by Dr. Okowa: “He didn’t give us money since the eight years he has been there as governor. Suddenly, less than two months to his election, he remembers us and gives us money and gives us a bus to convince Christians to vote for him. Neither us nor our congregations are fools”.

Another Pastor complained bitterly: “What annoyed me more was that he was there with his daughter who is running for House of Assembly. Everybody else who wanted the same ticket was shoved aside and denied a chance to compete for the ticket. After serving him, we should continue to serve his daughter. These people take us for fools”.

Second daughter of Dr. Okowa, Marilyn Okowa-Daramola is the candidate of the PDP in the House of Assembly election in Ika Northeast of Delta State. She was the only candidate allowed to buy PDP form for the primaries in the constituency.