PDP basks under new-found unity in Edo

The Peoples Democratic Party in Edo seems to be resolving its crisis ahead of the July 14 governorship election in the state, JAMES AZANIA writes

Less than a year ago, the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State appeared to be on the verge of disintegration. This was so because of the polarisation of the party along the lines of two power brokers (Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia and Chief Tony Anenih). Then, the two groups appeared together at public outings under distinct leaders.

So bad was the situation that both the Ogbemudia faction, headed by Elder Sunny Uyigue, and the mainstream Anenih faction, led by Chief Dan Orbih, came separately to the airport to welcome President Goodluck Jonathan during his visit to the state in the build-up to the last presidential election.

Though Uyigue has remained adamant, the PDP got a big lift from Ogbemudia when last Saturday, he hosted an enlarged meeting of the party at his Benin residence. At the end of the meeting, a running mate to the party’s governorship candidate, Charles Airhiavbere, in the person of Johnson Abolagba, a former member of the House of Representatives, emerged.

Ogbemudia, a two-time former governor of the state, in a volte face move often witnessed in the country’s political space, admonished the party leadership on the strategies to dislodge incumbent Governor Adams Oshiomhole of the Action Congress of Nigeria from Dennis Osadebey Avenue (Government House).

His tone, different from the one that came from him during a previous visit of the Edo South PDP leadership, was no doubt a source of joy to his co-travellers, including Orbih, who attributed the change to the consultation by his executive council and party elders.

Ogbemudia had during the previous visit talked in glowing terms about the ACN performance under Oshiomhole, saying it would earn the governor a second term.

He had reportedly asked his party people which road they passed when they were coming to his house. He was said to have reminded them of how Oshiomhole made his area a place where residents could, once again, be proud to live.

He was quoted to have said, “Where did you pass to get to my house? Is it not fine? Should I then mobilise against the person who has done this? I will instead mobilise for him.”

Ogbemudia, during the PDP second coming, however, changed his position and advised the Edo PDP leadership on the tactics to be adopted in effecting Oshiomhole’s removal from the Government House.

Besides advising the party on the choice of its deputy governorship candidate, Ogbemudia also made available the outcome of a vote research, which he said he undertook on behalf of the Edo PDP.

He said, “In this state, we look forward to a governor that will see things the way we see it, we look forward to a deputy governor who will bring votes, but we must not underrate the incumbent, who is very intelligent and has a very high level of intelligent quotient and is caring. So, the answer is for us to be as sharp as a razor. When you are going into a boxing contest and you begin to practise, your opponent knows it is no longer the challenger he knows.”

He said for the PDP to dislodge Oshiomhole from the Government House in the next election, it must poll 25 per cent votes in the Edo North senatorial district, 70 per cent in Edo Central and 60 per cent in Edo South. He said it was left for the leaders of those various senatorial districts to work hard on how to get the votes. “Benin people prefer the governor, not the deputy, and our hope is the Osadebey House,” he added.

An elated Orbih had said, “All those that are in doubt of our unity in Edo State PDP, all those in doubt of our resolve to win back Edo State will now know that the PDP is waxing stronger and is solidly united.”

Elsewhere, the Edo PDP has embarked on a series of rallies.In the rallies, the party showcased the defectors joining its camp ahead of the July 14 governorship election.

In an interview, Airhiavbere said, “I put in place three strategies – consultation, reconciliation and what I call the real action. I met with the political bigwigs, senators, past and present, businessmen, etc. I met Gen. Ogbemudia, Chief Oyegun, Chief Lucky Igbinedion and Prof. Osunbor. I met a host of retired and serving career officers. I discovered that they were all dissatisfied with the present administration. After more analyses, I discovered that there was a need for reconciliation in the PDP.

“After the April (general) elections, the PDP in Edo was torn. There were factions. I brought these aggrieved members together and we had a congress that members were proud of. We conducted a congress, which conducted the primaries from where I was picked as the governorship candidate. The success of the congress assisted in the conduct of the primaries. The strategy I put in place was based on the fact that I was new.

“In achieving my goals, different measures were put in place, which included visiting the leaders across the three senatorial districts. Hitherto, I spearheaded, in collaboration with my friends, a non-governmental organisation, the Community Assistance Cooperative Outreach, aimed at reaching the women, students and people at all levels. The outreach, which later metamorphosed into the Charles Osareme Campaign Organisation, gave me an opportunity to know the goings-on in the state.”

Airhiavbere’s appearance on the Edo political scene has in several quarters been credited with the revival of the state chapter of the PDP.

The retired army officer has been credited with bringing a new sense of belonging to the party.

Others have, however, said the same factors that created the latest amity in the party, at the same time, have estranged other party members, who felt alienated in the sharing of Airhiavbere’s largesse.

Other PDP leaders in the state, including a former deputy governor, Rev. Peter Obada, have continued to harp on the need for the party to present a united front if it is to get the voters’ reckoning on the election day.

Obada, who at best can be described as a sit-on-the-fence member of the party, has for some time stayed away from party activities, even though he has not openly declared a preference for any other party. He is, however, suspected to have sympathy for Oshiomhole, whose performance he has on several occasions painted in superlative terms.

Obada, while suing for peace in the state, was quoted as saying, “The Action Congress of Nigeria we have in the state today is a creation of the PDP as we lost some of our good foot soldiers, who left when they could no longer stomach the larger-than-life figure of some of us, who ordain candidates before elections.”

Some observers of PDP internal matters have, however, expressed doubts about the efficacy of the new rapprochement in Edo PDP to result in an electoral victory, saying several of their key players remain active pro-Oshiomhole advocates.

Whether or not members are committed to the PDP cause of reclaiming power in Edo State, time alone will tell, as the election draws near.

A word of caution, however, came for the Edo PDP from Ogbemudia, who, at the end of the meeting in his house, said, “It is not compulsory that the PDP wins the (governorship) election.”