The Deputy National Youth Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, Timothy Osadolo, has called on the leadership of the party to suspend the National Vice Chairman, South-South of the party, Dan Orbih, and other members of the Legacy Group, including former deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, who have vowed to work against the party in the September 21 governorship election in Edo State.

Osadolo said the declaration by Orbih and the members of the Edo PDP Legacy Group was tantamount to anti-party activities, saying they should be sanctioned.

The Edo PDP Legacy Group had met in the three senatorial districts of the state with the latest on Sunday in Irrua, Esan Central Local Government Area of the Edo Central Senatorial District, where they declared their reservations on the way Governor Godwin Obaseki had treated them after they helped him to realise his second term ambition in 2020.

The group, which has the former deputy governor, Shaibu, former Speakers of the state House of Assembly, Kabiru Adjoto and Frank Okiye, in its ranks, vowed to work against the party and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, if their grievances were not addressed.

READ ALSO: Why Candidate Who Needs Interpreter Can’t Be Edo Gov – Shaibu

Orhib said, “With all that is before us today, it is not about the PDP, APC or Labour Party. What is before us is the future of Edo State. Whoever will address the problems of our people and give our people a strong sense of belonging is the person we are going to vote for. Let us pray to God to give us the wisdom and direction we must go. We cannot be fooled a second time.

“About two days ago, I saw my name in a campaign council and I have come out clearly to decline to serve in the Edo state PDP Governorship Campaign Council. My decision rests on how I feel. The members of the PDP are badly treated after the reelection of Obaseki.”

However, in a statement on Tuesday, the PDP National Youth Leader said Orbih and his group should be suspended for anti-party activities.

Osadolor said: “A few days ago, what seemed unbelievable happened in Ogbona, the village of Dan Orbih and a few hours later in Edo Central, where members of a group that fancies itself as Legacy Group within the PDP, organised a show where they declared their resolve to work against the PDP in the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State.

READ ALSO: OPINION: PDP Must Stop Falsehood As Tactics To Handover Edo To Failed, Expired Political Godfathers, Godson

“As odious as this inconsiderate and unfortunate statement of theirs was, it was nothing compared to the disappointment, when you noticed that the leader of the pack is Orbih.

“This is a man that despite all PDP has done for him, and given him, has not been able to say thank you to the PDP by assisting in even producing a councillor in his ward. It is on record, the most miserable years of the PDP in Edo State were under his over-a-decade chairmanship, wherein the PDP lost elections.

“At the last NEC of the PDP, a disciplinary committee was set up by NEC. Moreso, the NEC gave the NWC powers to act on its behalf, pending the next NEC. Having heard the unfortunate comments by Orbih, where he openly said he would not be voting or working for the PDP to win and also asking people to do the same, it is important that the NWC do the needful by wielding the big stick on Orbih and his co-travellers.”

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Osadolor said he was not surprised at the conduct of Shaibu, given that he was recently removed as deputy governor.

“The case of Comrade Philip Shaibu, a newfound ally of Orbih, can be explained, after all he has put himself through in these last few weeks, being human, can make one act in a diverse way.

“This is the time for PDP NWC to show Nigerians that it is a serious party that wants power and believes in the principle of justice, fairness and discipline. The time to start sanitising the PDP is now and a first bold step in this direction is to suspend Orbih for open anti-party activities,” he said.

A former deputy governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has said any governorship candidate who can not speak the Edo dialect cannot govern the state.

Speaking during the Edo Central PDP leaders and stakeholders meeting held in Irrua, the administrative headquarters of Esan Central Local Government Area of the state on Monday, Shaibu said he would support only a homeboy to become the governor of the state.

He added that a candidate who needed the help of an interpreter did not qualify as a homeboy because of his inability to speak the dialect of the Edo people.

He stated, “Today, we have decided that a homeboy that we know will become the governor of Edo State. You already know that Edo born in Lagos State is not a homeboy.

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“Is somebody who comes here with an interpreter a homeboy? So, if that is a minus it means we will look for a homeboy.”

Although Shaibu didn’t mention the candidate he was referring to, the governorship candidate of the PDP, Asue Ighodalo, had been under fire after he hired an interpreter to announce his intention to his kinsmen at a ward in Ewohimi, Esan South East Local Government Area of the state earlier.

Ighodalo was seen in a video when he met with his kinsmen.

In the video, Ighodalo, who was vying for the PDP ticket then, addressed the crowd in English Language to seek their support while an interpreter translated his words into the Esan Language.

Also speaking, the party’s National Vice Chairman, South-South Zone, Dan Orbih, vowed not to campaign for the party if the crisis in the party is not solved.

READ ALSO: Edo Poll: Court Dismisses Suits Seeking Ighodalo’s Disqualification

Orbih said the re-election of Godwin Obaseki has only brought pain and anger to members of the party and the people of the state at large.

“In Edo State PDP, all is not well. Until I see concrete steps taken by the PDP government in the state to address all those issues that we have raised in the cause of our campaigns, until I see concrete steps to address the promises we made to the Edo people, I will not be able to face anybody to say vote the PDP at the next election.

“If they can treat you the way they treated you, you can imagine what it will be if we allow them to continue. I can see pain and anger in the faces of our people and members. I can not pretend to say all is well and I have come out clearly to decline to serve in the Edo State PDP governorship Campaign Council. My decision is based on how I feel. Members of the PDP were badly treated after the re-election of Godwin Obaseki,” he stated.

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Prior to the PDP governorship primary election, Obaseki and Shaibu, along with their supporters have been in disagreement over who will be the PDP’s candidate.

Ighodalo, however, emerged as the winner of the PDP primary election with Shaibu being impeached as the deputy governor of the state.

This, however, deepens the division within the state chapter of the party as opposition gathers within the party against Obaseki and the party’s candidate.

By Orobosa Omo-Ojo

I read with amusement, the conjured write up by Mr. Christopher Nehikhare, Commissioner for Communication and Orientation in his attempt to fault a well received thank you message by Senator Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the September 21, governorship election in Edo State.

Going through the unreasonable bla bla bla talk, it is difficult to figure out the message Nehikhare tried to pass. But one can glean together that the import of his story is to paint the APC candidate as a political godson to Nehikhare’s imaginary godfathers.

The fallibility and deceptive intention of the writeup is very obvious and clear. Nehikhare conjured his claim that the APC’s interest is to return the godfathers and starve Edo people of development.

He sermonized how he watched “with disdain and utmost disappointment the embarrassing outing of Senator Monday Okpebholo, the camera-shy and ineloquent candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) wherein he promised to release the state’s resources to political leaders in exchange for their support to clinch the governorship seat.”

Nehikhare also went on to ascribe to Sen. Okpebholo, his make-believe statement that he would end the “suffering of political leaders under Godwin Obaseki, by granting them unfettered access to the people’s purse, while neglecting the state’s development and short-changing the majority of Edo people.”

Before I respond to the appropriateness of the true statement made by the APC candidate, Senator Okpebholo, it is important for the benefit of readers and Edo people in particular, to reproduce here what Okpebholo said, using Nehikare’s transcription.

READ ALSO: Edo Poll: Court Dismisses Suits Seeking Ighodalo’s Disqualification

Nehikhare quoted Senator Okpebholo thus: “Whenever I talk to myself, I say to myself, I find myself in the circle of leadership. People think it is only Chief Anenih I was close to. No, I was close to Solomon Lar. I grew up in Jos. I saw how leaders suffered after putting someone in an office just like what we are suffering here.

“Okah, you’re suffering it in the hands of Obaseki. This will not repeat itself in my time because this is something that I see with leaders. By the time they go inside their bedrooms, they start crying. They have suffered, they have worked, we have done everything to make sure this person is there and he has forgotten us.

“I want to tell you one small story. When who becomes the Senate President was very hot, some people said, come here, come here and I said no, my leader is not around. Who is your leader and I said it is Adams Oshiomhole. When he comes he will tell me the direction to go.

“Now, what happened? When he came, I followed his foot step. I followed him and he took me to where I should go.”

Going through Nehikhare’s roguish transcription of Senator Okpebholo’s thank you message to leaders of APC, it is clear that Nehikhare has criminally concocted and doctored same to gain cheap milage for Obaseki’s political godson unachievable project to take over as governor from Nigeria’s No.1 political ‘Ogbomwanyese’.

Chris Nehikhare and I have severally lamented the blind political tactics that his boss, and my friend, Obaseki has deployed in Edo State since assuming office in 2016.

We have both expressed our frustrations about his decision to waste government resources to pursue vendetta missions all in his quest to assume unachievable godfather position in our dear state.

We have also at different occasions, lamented Obaseki’s attraction to things that will relegate our treasured traditional institution. We have frowned at the lack of cohesiveness in the running of Obaseki’s government.

READ ALSO: Edo Guber: ‘Which Campaign Council’, Orbih Fumes, Rejects Inclusion

It is then very laughable to see Nehikhare, pointing fingers at Senator Monday Okpebholo as one that will fritter away Edo State resources when he assumes office as ‘Servant Governor’.

The indices so far shows the person that is already indebted to some outdated, wasted and consistently failed godfathers who are only administering ‘life-support’ to Mr. Asue Ighodalo, the parallel Peoples Democratic Party candidate, is most likely to hand over the state’s resources to godfathers.

Edo people are already aware of the humongous state resources the godfather and his godson, Asue Ighodalo have wasted so far, including the alleged $2m they used in buying the worthless PDP ticket.

Even as I pen this response, ‘PDP marshals’ are running round nooks and crannies with nap sack bags working hard to compromise voters who have made up their minds to take back their state from an aspiring godfather who they accuse of privatizing their state.

The rethorical list of achievements by the fast winding down Obaseki’s administration exposes Nehikare’s frustration in working for a governor that has abandoned the people after they helped to save him from political disgrace in 2020.

I say this because I am aware that the good people of Evbueghare Community in Orhionmwon Local Government Area, where Christopher Nehikhare halls from, have declared him persona non grata due to lack of government presence in the area.

I challenge Nehikhare to list the physical infrastructure he claimed Obaseki has upgraded (completed or ongoing in the State).

This administration should bury its head in disappointing shame for applauding itself for recircled eight years projects which Nehikhare listed to include: “High Court Complex, to the newly built Adams Oshiomhole Labour House, to the State Secretariat Complex, to the Edo Agricultural Hub, to the Edo Education Hub; Iyaro, to the Edo State College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Iguoriakhi, to the Edo State Colleges of Education campuses in Abudu, Igueben and Afuze.”

READ ALSO:Edo Guber: PDP BoT Member, Idahosa Resigns From Party

Nehikhare disturbingly added the investment in road infrastructure which he scored at 700km of roads for eight years. How miserable can our expectations from a government that has an overhang of almost N1trillion in local and foreign debt. Nehikhare and his boss must think that we are all ‘mumu’ in Edo State.

The achievements Nehikare also claimed that the PDP government made in the areas of tourism, education and agriculture will be responded to in due time.

In conclusion, let me say that, by the vantage positions and roles that I have played, Edo State needed a break from ‘PowerPoint’ and ‘MoU’ governance, to a more realistic, all encompassing government by the people, for the people.

We need a more humane servant-governor that will respect all the components that have held Edo as a formidable state, not one godson that has learnt the ostentatious standards and failed promises technicalities.

Edo people are tired of a combative governor who will spend more resources to divide our cherished traditional institutions. We need a governor that will not pay lip service to the education of our children, more importantly, we need a governor that will not spend eight years to build one standard hospital.

Finally, we need a governor that will not demolish the Specialist Hospital built by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, like Obaseki did to Central hospital, and gifted the land to his friend to build a private museum.

If I may ask, ‘who do us like this?’

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Bassey Eno, has just inaugurated an additional Airbus 220 – 300 aircraft in the fleet of Ibom Air, yet Nehikhare is celebrating 700 kilometers patch-patch road after collecting $150million for flood control. We nor go gree!