UGHELLI SOUTH, Nigeria – Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State has suggested that former Governor James Ibori may soon join the All Progressives Congress (APC), signalling a possible consolidation of political forces in the state under the ruling party’s banner.
Speaking on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at a vigil mass held at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church, Otu-Jeremi, in honour of the late former Deputy Governor Amos Utuama (SAN), Oborevwori told mourners that the political “family” in Delta State had become fragmented and urged for unity under a common platform.
Oborevwori, who led a high-profile defection of top Delta Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) figures to the APC on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, directly addressed Ibori during his remarks, saying: “When you are leading your children, some are in APC, some are in Labour Party, some are here, and I asked him [Ibori], ‘When is he going to join us?’ And I know he will join us very soon in APC. I will receive our leader in Jesus name.”
Oborevwori continued: “You have created a big family, and the family needs to be united.”
His remarks are the clearest indication yet that behind-the-scenes efforts are ongoing to bring Ibori, a central figure in Delta politics and a former PDP strongman, into the APC fold.
The late Amos Utuama served as Ibori’s attorney general and later as deputy governor under Emmanuel Uduaghan, a successor and political ally of Ibori.
The governor’s comments come just months after Ibori’s daughter, Erhriatake Ibori-Suenu, defected from the PDP to the APC, joining the House of Representatives under the new party banner.
The vigil service, attended by key political figures, was marked by emotional tributes to Utuama, who died earlier this month at age 77.
But Oborevwori used the solemn occasion to underscore the urgency of political unity in the state.
“We can only say the truth,” he told the congregation. “If you are sentimental, the family will break, the centre cannot hold.”
On Sunday, April 27, 2025, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo, a native of Delta, announced that the APC structure in the state was now fully under Oborevwori’s control, a development widely seen as the party’s bid to consolidate its grip ahead of the 2027 elections.
If Ibori were to formally join the APC, it would mark a significant political realignment in the South-South region, particularly given Ibori’s longstanding influence and status within the PDP at both state and national levels.
