Loyalists of the Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, belch foul air on supporters of Chief Dan Orbih, South South National Vice Chairman of the party.
This followed Wednesday’s ruling of the Supreme court, which affirmed all the Candidates of PDP loyal to Obaseki’s faction as the Candidates of the umbrella party for 25th of February and 11th of March 2023 in the State, after months of political subterfuge that reduced the influence of the ruling party in the State.
The judgement by the apex court, which has finally put to rest the long-drawn legal tussle Governor Obaseki’s faction and Orbih-led PDP faction in the State, sparked jubilation among supporters of the Governor.
The governor has being battling to fully takeover the entire structure of the party in the State after several attempts to mend fences to harmonise and integrate his loyalists, who defected with him from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to PDP, which gave his re-election ticket with his deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, shortly before the 2020 State governorship election.
Reacting to the judgement, Governor Obaseki in his reaction, said there is no victor, No vanquish; Just as he urged aggrieved members and leaders of his party in the State to close ranks in a bid to reactivate the its winning streak.
Accordingly, Obaseki said in a statement that, “As the leader of the party in the State, I implore all members to consider this development as the end of all strife within the Edo PDP and to note that this is a victory for all members.
“Our resolve now is to win the forthcoming general elections as this experience has made us stronger and better prepared to clinch victory.
“This disagreement which has now been amicably resolved attests to the maturity of actors who as law-abiding party members have subjected themselves to and accepted the verdict of the courts.
“As there are no victors or vanquished in this issue, I want to call on all members of our party to come together to speak with one voice against the real opponents since our party is big enough to accommodate our variegated interests.
“The ongoing crisis in our Nation which has been choreographed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) is subjecting Nigerians to perhaps the most tortuous living conditions in our history since the Civil War between 1967 and 1970. Our efforts must now be directed to removing the APC from power and restoring our blessed Country.
“I, therefore, call on all our members in Edo State to stand up and be counted among the brave party men and women who stood to be counted in the execution of this all-important task to rescue Nigeria and pull it back from the precipice”, he said.
While the dust raised over the sharing of appointment positions and leadership structure in Obaseki’s cabinet are yet to abate, political pundits who are familiar with the feud between members of PDP legacy group and Governor Obaseki ahead, could deny Edo PDP Candidates victory especially in the State house of Assembly seats in the forthcoming polls, if urgent steps to build bridges across troubled water are not taken.
Some leaders of the All Progressives Congress who saw the crisis in Edo PDP as a brilliant opportunity to wrestle power from the ruling party in the State, are currently battling to redeem its image arising from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cashless policy and petrol price hike and scarcity which have created much problems for Nigerians as emerging threats to the victory of the party in the 2023 polls in Edo.
Leave a Reply