Edo: PDP’s thorny path to governorship poll

SOLA SHITTU examines the chances of the Peoples Democratic Party in the forthcoming governorship election holding in September and the landmines on the path of the opposition party ahead of the poll.

Political parties have stepped up their preparations for the Edo State governorship election scheduled to hold in September. The race to the Osadebe Avenue seems to be a two-horse race between the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, which is the main opposition party in the state.

Although the crisis rocking the ruling party has not been fully resolved, the PDP is not faring better because of the crisis and court cases trailing its ward, local government and state congresses.

Two weeks ago, the Edo State chapter of the PDP elected a new State Executive Committee in a debatable congress that ended the 11-year tenure of the immediate past chairman of the party, Mr Dan Orbih. Trouble started immediately after the ward congresses in January when members cried foul over the way and manner the congresses were conducted with alleged impunity by the party leaders.

At the centre of the controversy was the former chairman, who was accused of submitting a fake list of various ward executive members to the Ward Congress Committee from Abuja, led by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, through the back door at a hotel where all the lists were alleged to have been altered.

Immediately after the congresses, an order of interim injunction was obtained at an Ekpoma High Court, restraining the party from recognising the ward congress results.

But the PDP has continued to hold on to its winning streaks in certain areas of the state  like Edo South and Edo Central to the extent of winning two senatorial seats and four House Representatives members for the state in the last general election, which is mostly attributed to the doggedness of the candidates that won, rather than the contribution of Orbih.

However, the party’s defeat in the last state House of Assembly election — the ruling APC won all the 24 seats in the house, leaving the PDP with nothing — is largely attributed to the imposition and supremacy fight between Orbih and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu to own the candidates without consulting the party leadership of various constituencies.

Now that the September 2019 governorship election is approaching, many believe that, though the PDP in Edo has bright chances of returning to the Government House, the opposition party may not be able to take over because of the lack of fairness being displayed in the zoning formula by the party leadership.

Some stakeholders believe the leadership of the PDP is deliberately ignoring Edo Central Senatorial District, which is the PDP’s stronghold in the state, from producing governor of the state since 1999 and the trouble which is already brewing may lead to the implosion of PDP in the coming days.

One of the PDP leaders from Akoko-Edo, Mr Oladele Bankole-Balogun, who recently announced his withdrawal from all PDP activities in the state, blamed Orbih, for the alleged woes of the party. Bankole-Balogun said he was particularly discouraged by the attempt of the former chairman to allegedly keep imposing his choice of candidates on the party.

He said, “I cannot continue to waste my time and money on a party where I do not see a hope in the future. I can tell you today that the PDP in Edo State has not learnt from its mistake. The party is not united; we are divided and if you cannot provide a united front as a party, how can your candidates win any election? That was why I stepped aside.”

Although the PDP chieftain said he had not decided on the next step to take, he said he would rather wait and watch the political situation before making any move.

Dr Isaiah Osifo, a former Chief of Staff to former Governor Lucky Igbinedion, admitted that the state congress was characterised by errors, which he said could affect the party’s fortunes, despite the bright chances of winning the coming governorship election by the opposition.

Osifo said, “Many people have complained that they are not satisfied with the conduct of the ward, local government and state congresses. I saw for myself too that the congresses in some wards were not credible, and I equally saw that there were some local government areas where the congresses were not transparent. I was also a state delegate and I saw that there were some lapses in the conduct of the state congress but, in all, I expect the leadership of the party not to go and sit down but to try and address these grievances in the interest of the party.

“They should not gloss over it and say, ‘We have done it. They can go to hell.’ No. We cannot afford to lose members now. We are in the opposition, we are not in government. We have already lost many of our leaders and members and we cannot afford to lose more. The only way to keep the people and to even attract more members to our party is for the national leaders to come and address this issue. Not necessarily by court — the internal mechanism can address the situation and allay our fears, pacify those that need to be pacified, harmonise those areas that should be harmonised and then move on as a party.

“In the last election, the PDP won the presidential election (in the state) and, in the National Assembly poll, we won two Senate seats out of three and four House of Representatives seats, which is a clear indication that the PDP is a very strong party in Edo. This can still repeat itself in the September governorship election. But that is not to say the reconciliation of aggrieved members is not a necessary requirement. It is very necessary in order to have a good outing in the governorship election. We must bring everybody together and address their areas of concern and pacify them. I think the PDP has the capacity to win the next governorship election in Edo but we have to pray that the election will be free and fair.”

In an earlier interview with The PUNCH, the former chairman of the party expressed confidence that the party would win the next governorship election in Edo, saying, “I have no doubt about it.”

According to him there is no crisis in Edo PDP.

He said, “If one or two people decide to go and seek legal relief to address their personal needs, it does not amount to any form of crisis. Edo State PDP, today, is more united than ever before and the party is focused to take over the reins of government.”

On the allegation of imposition of candidates by him, Orbih said, “Sometimes, it is not everything you react to in politics. I have come to realise that when there are political interests, even if God comes down to conduct a primary, people will still have one or two things to say, but more importantly, let me say this: I am not directly involved in the conduct of congress that will bring in a new executive of the party, the National Working Committee is the one bringing people to conduct this exercise. I will be entitled to only one vote and I will exercise it to the best of my conviction.

“Again, to those who want to run for governorship who are crying wolf where there is none, my advice is that they should concentrate on selling their programmes and what they intend to do if they get the ticket of the party. I will not even be the chairman of the party by the time we do the primary election to elect the party’s governorship candidate. So, let them sell themselves to the party leaders and members and I believe my one vote alone cannot decide who gets the ticket.”

Although Orbih believes that the PDP will win the September governorship election in the state, a political analyst, who is a former Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Benin chapter, Prof Julius Iyasele, said the party was not ready for it.

According to him, the APC and PDP in Edo are Siamese twins, “so what is happening in the APC cannot be divorced from what is happening in the PDP because the political arena in Nigeria is in a state of hullabaloo.”

Iyasele said, “If you go to PDP now, everybody is jostling for a position, jostling for power, because the only financial institution that is available now is political office and so it’s the same drive that you also have in the APC. All these are happening because of ego and all that. The PDP would have had a golden opportunity to take over power from the APC in Edo State, but who is the person in the PDP that wants to take over power that is on the ground? All the political bigwigs in the party have all transmuted to the APC, so as we speak, the PDP is not ready, even though it’s a golden opportunity that they have.

“Also, they might not be able to pull the funds to wrest power from APC. The funds are not there. Again, look at it now. Can you hear their voice at all, apart from Dan Orbih that speaks once in a while? Currently, it appears Dan Orbih is the PDP. He is the current owner of the PDP. Do you hear any other voice from the PDP apart from him? They have a publicity secretary in the state, but is the person functioning? So, as it is, Dan Orbih is the main person in the PDP. He has so much power in PDP and nobody can equal him now. That is the truth.”

Another stakeholder in the state, Prof  Enaruna Edosa, argued that it would be very difficult for the PDP to come back to power, especially with the way the performance of the incumbent governor.

Edosa said, “In fact, you can’t count the number of roads, both major and connecting roads, that the governor has reconstructed. The EDOBEST education reform is also making serious impact in the education sector while civil servants no longer have complaints. No more demonstration by the pensioners. You know a very popular candidate of the PDP defected to the APC. That would have been the only one who could pose a threat to the ruling party but he is now in the APC.”

An Edo-based lawyer, Osayuki Agbonghae,  said it was expected that, with the crisis rocking the ruling party in Edo, the rival opposition party would take advantage of the situation but added that it was sad that there was no solid opposition in the state.

He said, “For example, there have been court cases over the congresses held by the PDP in the state. There is a suit in Ekpoma and another one in Abuja challenging the validity of the congresses. I think issues like this should be resolved politically.

“For instance, the Esan people in Edo Central feel they are being systematically marginalised, while the governorship seat was zoned to Edo South. These are issues that the party should look into and resolve its crisis so that it can come out with a credible candidate that will be accepted to all.

“Currently, I don’t see the Edo South people, who have the highest number of votes in the state, voting for anyone that is not from the area and I think that is why an Esan man was elected the chairman of the party so that he can give way for an Edo South governorship candidate. But like I said, the PDP really needs to work hard to present a credible candidate that will be accepted by all.”

Source: The Punch