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The Office of former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, has intensified its attack on Governor Sheriff Oborevwori over the removal of Hon. Collins Egbetamah from the Delta State House of Assembly, accusing the governor of attempting to justify what it described as an unconstitutional act while exposing Government House’s alleged involvement in the lawmaker’s removal.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by Omo-Agege’s Special Adviser on Strategy and Communications, Godwin Anaughe, the former deputy Senate President rejected the governor’s demand that he withdraw a video criticising the removal of Egbetamah, apologise to the Delta State House of Assembly and embrace what the governor described as issue-based politics. Instead, the statement challenged the governor to “read the Constitution, not selectively, not conveniently, but all of it.”

The former Deputy Senate President argued that the governor’s public defence of the Assembly’s decision amounted to an admission that Government House influenced the removal of the Udu State Constituency lawmaker.

According to the statement, since the Speaker of the House had already spoken on the matter, there was no reason for Government House to intervene unless it had a direct interest in the decision.

“The decision to publicly defend the removal confirms what many suspected all along, that the House did not act independently. It executed a political directive from Government House in Asaba,” the statement alleged.

Omo-Agege’s office further claimed that Egbetamah had suffered two years of political victimisation before his eventual removal, alleging that he was denied salaries, allowances and constituency project funds because he remained loyal to the All Progressives Congress (APC) before Governor Oborevwori defected to the party.

It maintained that the declaration of Egbetamah’s seat vacant violated the constitutional right to fair hearing guaranteed under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution, insisting that the lawmaker was neither notified nor given an opportunity to defend himself before the House took its decision.

The statement questioned why the Assembly allegedly declared the seat vacant in a single sitting through a voice vote if, as claimed by the governor, the constitutional position was settled.

Omo-Agege also defended the contents of the video that drew the governor’s criticism, insisting that every assertion made in it was factual, including claims that Egbetamah was denied fair hearing, that the process was politically motivated and that the people of Udu had been left without representation.

The former Deputy Senate President’s office also dismissed attempts by the governor to highlight his administration’s infrastructure and social welfare projects, arguing that development projects could not be used to deflect attention from constitutional issues.

The statement further contended that despite receiving what it described as over ₦3 trillion in federal allocations during Oborevwori’s tenure, the governor still owed Deltans a detailed account of how the funds had been utilised.

It maintained that the central issue remained the legality of Egbetamah’s removal and the alleged disenfranchisement of the people of Udu, stressing that infrastructure projects could not substitute for adherence to constitutional provisions.

Responding to suggestions that Omo-Agege’s stance could hurt his political prospects ahead of the 2027 elections, the statement said the former Deputy Senate President was prepared to defend constitutional rights regardless of political consequences.

It added that Omo-Agege would neither withdraw the controversial video nor apologise, insisting that he respected the Delta State House of Assembly as an institution but believed it had failed to uphold constitutional standards in Egbetamah’s case.

The statement concluded by expressing confidence that the courts would ultimately determine the legality of the lawmaker’s removal, insisting that “the Constitution belongs to every Nigerian” and that the mandate of the people of Udu “is sacred.”

The latest statement is the latest exchange in the growing political dispute between Governor Oborevwori and Senator Omo-Agege over the removal of Hon. Collins Egbetamah, a matter that is expected to be tested in court.