By Sotu Godbless Oghenevwede
The battle line for the 2027 Delta Central Senate ticket in APC is now clear. It is down to two clear choices. One man is consulting the stakeholders and the grassroots. The other is banking on entitlement. For party faithful who want the party to win and keep Delta Central in safe hands, Senator Ede Dafinone is the better choice for the people.
Since late 2025, Senator Dafinone has left no stone unturned. He has moved from different wards to another, sitting with party faithful, elders, and in many cases, community leaders across the eight LGAs of Delta Central. His message is simple: the broom must be tied together before it can sweep. He is preaching collaboration before ambition and building alliances before declaration.
The other tries to create the false perception that the senate ticket is already in the bag. As former Deputy Senate President and 2023 governorship candidate, the talk among his loyalists which we find as a very disturbing lie is “there was a promise for him to return to the Red Chamber ” But as the saying goes, a tree does not make a forest. Relying on weakened old political structures and surreptitious Abuja connection without fresh grassroots work is how parties lose ground. Delta Central APC learnt that lesson the hard way in 2023.
Dafinone brings what APC needs to lock down Delta Central: credibility. As a sitting Senator and a technocrat, he stands for competence, accountability, and proven results. He does not make noise in the market square. He delivers.
He is delivering on bills not by their numbers but by their impact. This is why the Federal University of Agriculture, Orerokpe is being pursued. When achieved, there will be employment and boost to the local economy, improved access to specialized education in agritech, mechanized farming, etc,. The university will reduce the gap in food security, promote research/ tech driven farming.
Senator Ede Dafinone's Data Compensation Bill shows that he is in tune with the reality of the tech age, and ensuring that Nigeria gets serious about digital rights, and with an estimated 1.5 million digital job by 2030, Dafinone is using this bill to create a pathway for Nigerians to claim financial redress when personal data is misused, breached or monetized without permission. Delta Central has a high youth population in tech, aside from the generality of people who use social media today across the Nation. This is indeed a forward thinking bill for Nigerians.
The bill for the establishment of the Federal University of Education, Isiokolo, when passed into law, is one that will position Delta Central as a hub for educational advancement in the Niger Delta and not just the accelerated economic advancement of Isiokolo, Delta State. Dafinone is doing this with the belief, that if you educate a man, you are stabilizing today, and securing tomorrow.
You will agree with me that only a man with a developmental mindset will come with a bill such as the Chartered Institute of Planning Bill aimed at fixing Nigeria's "start-stop" challenge with project execution and policy implementation.
From the condemnation of the Okuama incident, where he spoke against collective punishment and called for justice, extension of the Ujevwu - Itakpe rail line to the FCT, where he maintained that reliable rail is Central to Nigeria's industrialization and regional integration, to the proper labeling of genetically modified crops which aims to address very serious health concerns for Nigerians, Senator Dafinone's winsome attributes is a pointer to why he gets overwhelming bipartisan support for his motions.
Senator Dafinone is not just thinking outside the box, but rethinking within the box, by ensuring that his conventional empowerment programmes adhere strictly to the SDGs - poverty alleviation, hunger reduction and food security, decent work and economic growth, health, education, industry, innovation and infrastructure, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, peace, justice and strong institutions, etc,. Think of his small business grants and support, provision and installation of transformers in all parts of Delta Central, medical outreaches, establishment of ICT centers in schools, and the consistent efforts at preserving the Urhobo language and culture through the Urhobo Language Competition done yearly in honour of Late Senator Pius Ewherido. No doubt, Sen. Dafinone has got his sleeved rolled up.
Senator Dafinone's push for the Sapele Seaport targets to turn Delta into an A-list economic nerve center for Nigeria and Africa. How else does one deliver as a first timer?
Senator Dafinone does not only legislate, his representation is superb! To think that he honoured invitation from an SUG President to commission a student Union project is worth noting.
Just yesterday, 29th of April, 2026, he visited the Nigeria Police Force, Area Command, Warri to advocate for Justice for his constituent who was extra-judicially murdered in Effurun, adding his voice to the call for responsible policing, and for all involved to remain calm as due process is needed for justice to be served. This he did just after delivering a convocation lecture at the 18th Convocation of the Delta State University, Abraka, on the topic " Harnessing Nigeria's potential: Strategies for Sustainable Development. I'm sure the word "workaholic" popped in your mind.
To be clear, Senator Dafinone's agenda is rooted in equity, Sapele is marked for Seaport, Okpe is marked for a specialized federal university of Agriculture, Isiokolo, Ethiope East is marked for a federal university of Education, Ughelli South is getting a rail station, Petroleum Training Institute in Uvwie is getting standard hostel projects, unlike the former Senator who concentrated projects mainly in his hometown. Be the judge, who is more like Mukoro Mowoe?
Delta Central does not need to rely on past glory, as the National Assembly does not work in favour of such tendencies. Otherwise, check what impact others who were principal officers in the past, are making as floor members presently, and you will find little or nothing to write about. In the National Assembly, "I get amm before nor be property". Delta Central needs a senator who listens first and acts with precision. Dafinone’s stakeholder tour brings to bear the fruits in "vox populi vox dei". He is not asking for the ticket as a retirement gift or reward for grandstanding. He is earning it by showing up.
From U3 to OSU to Ethiope, the feedback is the same. Party members are tired of “antics, manipulation and entitlement” politics. Market women, youth groups, and elders are asking for Sen. Ede Dafinone to return as ranking Senator that Abuja can trust with clean hands, and a growing influence. They want a unifier, not a factional champion. That is why the tide is obviously moving with Sen. Dafinone.
Those trying to set rules even as players, with threats on a daily basis, are only erasing all chances of grabbing other opportunities that may come to the district.
Sen. Dafinone offers a better road: consult widely, unite sincerely, and campaign on competence and for what is ahead, not what is already behind us. That is how you keep the Urhobo nation solid and bring undecided voters under the broom.
The Senate ticket is not a chieftaincy title for past service. It is a mandate for future work. Right now, only one man is treating it that way.
Even with the avalanche of support during the declaration of Sen. Ede Dafinone second term bid, Senator Ede Dafinone didn't go to sleep, he is still consulting because he knows that he who is not present at a meeting cannot tie the kolanut. He is the better choice. He is the people’s choice for the Delta Central Senate in 2027.
Comr. Sotu Godbless Oghenevwede
Jeremi Ward 3
