Unarguably, Chief James Onanefe Ibori remains the biggest politician in the present Delta State. As a two-term governor of the state, he has been established as a firmly-rooted political godfather. Despite a brief travail that would have cut off the influence of any other godfather, Ibori has successfully kept his power intact. He has successfully installed governors and facilitated the positioning of other top public officials. Thus, when his first daughter, Erhiatake signified her intention to vie for a seat at the lower chamber of the National Assembly, many have seen it as an easy ride for her.
But the ebony black young lady never took the task as easy as that. Erhiatake, who many have described as a worthy daughter of the Urhobo nation, never relied on her father’s goodwill and connection yet she entered the trenches to woo people to her side. The vivacious graduate of Business Studies with Information Systems created ‘The S.H.I. Mobile Free Clinics’ to deliver health care services and set up skill acquisition centres to train people in different vocations. After a while, Erhiatake comes out as a well-bred politician and caring philanthropist who consistently empowers the youths and the women folks in her constituents. The result? People rewarded Erhiatake with a landslide victory when the result of the February 25 National Assembly election into the seat of Ethiope Federal Constituency was announced. The lady made her father proud by defeating the incumbent member by a wide margin of 10,634 votes.
