By all accounts, Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai was once a formidable figure in Delta State politics. For years, he held sway in the Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency, serving multiple terms in the House of Representatives and building a reputation as a grassroots politician with influence across party lines. Today, however, his political relevance raises a lingering question in Delta’s political discourse: Where is Ossai N. Ossai?
This question cannot be asked without examining the decisive role played by former Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, whose political dominance reshaped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) landscape during his eight years in office.
It is believed that while Okowa consolidated power within the PDP as governor, dissenting voices and independent power blocs within the party were systematically weakened. Hon. Ossai N. Ossai, despite his legislative seniority and electoral pedigree, increasingly found himself at odds with the governor’s political structure.
Sources within the PDP recount that Ossai’s relationship with the Okowa-led party machinery deteriorated steadily. Access to party leverage, strategic appointments, and grassroots mobilisation platforms became constrained. By the time preparations began for the 2023 general elections, it was evident that Ossai no longer enjoyed the backing of the dominant PDP structure in Delta State.
The culmination of this internal friction came in 2023 when Ossai lost his bid for a third re-election to the House of Representatives. Many party insiders believe the outcome was not merely electoral misfortune but the result of deliberate political engineering. The PDP ticket for Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency went to Nnamdi Ezechi, a move widely seen as orchestrated by the Okowa political camp.
That defeat effectively removed Ossai from elective office and marked a turning point in his political journey.
Defection to APC and the Promise of a Political Comeback
Determined to remain politically relevant, Hon. Ossai N. Ossai defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). At his widely publicised but modest defection ceremony, he struck a defiant tone, vowing to “dismantle the PDP structure in Delta State” and commit his space, time and resources to the growth of the APC.
He further narrated his engagements with APC stakeholders in Abuja and parts of Northern Nigeria, expressing lofty ambitions of becoming President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Campaign Coordinator for the South-South geopolitical zone. At the time, his defection was interpreted by some analysts as a major crack in Delta PDP’s dominance.
In a twist laden with political irony, events took an unexpected turn. Rather than signalling the collapse of the PDP in Delta State, the national APC leadership appointed Ifeanyi Okowa himself as the South-South Coordinator for the Tinubu campaign. The move effectively overshadowed Ossai’s ambitions and repositioned Okowa—his long-time political adversary—as the key power broker in the region once again.
For many observers, this development symbolised a second political eclipse for Ossai N. Ossai. Having been edged out within the PDP, he now found himself outflanked in his new party by the very figure he accused of frustrating his career.
Today, Hon. Ossai N. Ossai remains largely absent from the centre of Delta State’s political calculations. While still a member of the APC, his promised dismantling of PDP structures has not materialised, and his influence within the opposition party appears limited.
His political journey stands as a case study in the ruthless nature of power politics in Nigeria—where structures often outweigh individual ambition, and where former allies can become enduring obstacles.
Ultimately, the Ossai-Okowa saga underscores a sobering lesson. It points to the fact that in Delta State politics, survival depends not only on popularity or experience, but on control of the political machinery. On that front, Ifeanyi Okowa proved once again to be a step ahead, leaving many to still ask, where is Ossai N. Ossai?
