We, elders and critical leaders of PDP in Edo State, having become aware of some political disagreements within the membership of our great party in Edo State, consider it urgent that all groups sheath their swords and respect Party leadership intervention at the highest level. We have been disturbed by the recent open confrontations between H.E. Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and our Governor, H.E. Godwin Obaseki of Edo State. It is absolutely necessary for us to bring all this to an end immediately and ensure the smooth operation of a united South-Southern block of PDP states.
We recall that sometime in 2020, we the elders and critical leaders of Edo State met in Abuja and Benin City and proposed a plan of uniting the vast majority of Edo people into one party – the PDP to ensure our party wins the governorship election and takes over power in Edo State; power which had eluded our party for over twelve years before then. We therefore approached the National Chairman and National Working Committee of our party with our plans. Central to our plan was our invitation to Governor Godwin Obaseki, then of APC, to contest the 2020 Governorship election under PDP. We considered this a realistic approach as we did not want to run the risk of another four years in the opposition in Edo State. The Party leadership found our proposal very workable.
At the point of our approach to Governor Godwin Obaseki, which coincided with the Edo State APC crisis at the time, time was really running out. We were however aware that there were other interested PDP aspirants in Edo State and unfortunately one of them approached the court and obtained a restraining order to frustrate our efforts. This was most unfortunate but we must most sincerely thank the Governors of our Party, led by HE Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, the Chairman of PDP Governors Forum and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, the Chairman of the South-South PDP Governors forum who led their colleagues to Rivers State undertaking risky road night journeys and they secured a settlement that made it possible for the court case to be withdrawn and for all the other aspirants to step down.
It is true that HE Governor Nyesom Wike embraced our candidate Governor Godwin Obaseki and in his well-known manner, became a leading force in our joint commitment to ensure unlimited efforts to our achieving our mission to win Government House, Benin City. Indeed, he came to Benin a few days before the election and took in his stride the humiliation of being blocked in his hotel by the APC security people.
However, that notwithstanding, the force of his presence in Edo State reverberated across the whole State.
In the end, we won the election landslide. It was indeed a commendable act by HE Governor Godwin Obaseki to make it a point of duty to visit his brother Governors in Sokoto, Rivers, Akwa Thom, Bayelsa, Delta, Bauchi, etc., immediately after his victory to express his appreciation to his brothers and colleagues.
The movement of Governors, Senators and other elected members from one party to the other is not new and, in the PDP, the process always included the harmonisation of structures. It is unfortunate that because of the very tight time frame this was not done before the elections. It has become an issue of serious interest today because we won the election which has created diverse opportunities. It should be noted that this was an election won virtually landslide. It made true our calculations for bringing in
Governor Godwin Obaseki who arrived with a great and powerful following including most of the APC State Executive, all the members of the State House of Assembly – PDP had none, all the elected Local Government Chairmen – PDP had none, and so many others. The need to harmonise and integrate was inevitable. There is no PDP Governor who is not in control of the party structure of his State and Edo State should not be different.
We have not been privy to the details of the negotiations that took place in Port Harcourt but one of the outcomes was the stepping down of the South-South Party National Vice-Chairman, Hon. Emma Ogidi of Delta State and the position given for immediate occupation to Chief Dan Orbih who had just finished an unbroken over twelve years tenure as PDP State Chairman of Edo State. The comments made by Governor Godwin Obaseki regarding his relationship with the new South-South Vice Chairman gives cause for concern.
In a very short time, HE Godwin Obaseki has been able to actualise an electronic registration of PDP Party membership in Edo State that today is in excess of 540,000 members. If this membership, which is still growing and should be encouraged is carefully managed, the landslide winning of elections by PDP in Edo State would be permanently guaranteed. Our commitment must be to continue to expand the frontiers of our party, increase its membership and ensure that all new members are integrated.
Many of us attended the ceremonies welcoming our new National Chairman, Senator lyorchia Ayu to Edo State last Thursday, 10th March, 2022 and particularly at the rally were the Deputy Governor of Edo State Rt Hon Philip Shaibu was one of the many speakers. He spoke openly and not in private. His mode of speaking was, as acknowledged by the National Chairman, in line with the attitude of our bustling energetic Youth population.
Governor assured him all would be well. We all rode together in the same bus to other events of the day. It is important to clarify here that we have always considered the Governor and Deputy Governor as a single ticket and it is our pleasure that there is no crack between Governor Godwin Obaseki and Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu.
Once again, we appeal to all concerned to sheath their swords and to allow for the peaceful resolution of all matters by the highest authority of our party as was recently promised by our National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu. We are assured that there will be fairness, equity and justice which should guarantee a complete bonding of all our members in Edo State as we prepare to select our candidates for the upcoming general elections.
