Political Issues
The Fissure In Edo PDP And The Position Of The State Governor; What Must Be Done In The Circumstance -By Barr. Elabor Joe Agbebaku
The past few days have not been the best days for our dear party the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State. The squabble is understood to have triggered from a State Leadership Meeting of May 8, 2021 which was said to have been summoned at the instance of the State Governor Godwin Obaseki. The crux of which is the call for the dissolution of the State party executive Committees at all levels.
I have read several articles and pieces from some party faithfuls dragging our party and party leaders on various social media platforms, this is appalling to say the least.
We all must act to put an end to this shameful act being paraded, for the sake of our beloved party and for general sanity. When we dance naked in public, we should expect nothing but clapping and hyping from the opposition, this cannot be what we want in this particular time of our history. The party has just recorded its victory in the state after twelve years of trying, we should be more concerned about building back and sustaining the confidence of Edo people as a party.
Everyone appears to be aggrieved albeit on different interests. In all honesty, methinks there are good reasons to be aggrieved. It is expected, because in politics, everyone is interested in his or her interest, and remonstrations are inevitable when interests are not met.
We can’t pretend and act like everything is fine when all is not well. Peace comes before progress, there is no way we could progress when we are at war with ourselves.
Howbeit, I believe there is no fight so severe that cannot be resolved. That is why everyone’s agitation must be considered to achieve a desired resolution, it is a common saying that there cannot be peace without justice and fairness.
The factions in the State party fracas today are basically divided into two, to wit: The Old PDP and the New PDP (the Old APC). While the latter is agitating for dissolution of State Party Executives, the formal is assiduously objecting to it. It is thereby safe to say that issues are joined on divergent interests.
The State Governor (who is of the New PDP) is said to believe that the Old PDP members are taking him for a ride, hence he is also aggrieved. It is a trying time for our dear party in the State, but the Governor should know that he is at the center of it all. The party members and indeed everyone that voted him in the September 2020 election are looking up to him to take decisive decisions to get the State moving.
The State Governor is traditionally regarded as the State Leader of the party, he needs to act as such by managing the situation and resolving same. In politics, everyone tends to ask: “what is there for me and or for my people?”. When this question seems not to be given a positive nod, then there are bound to be grievances, whines and all sort of bellyaches.
The New PDP feel they are not represented in the State party structure; hence they are calling for dissolution. If you ask me, I think they have a point, after all they are also party members. However, the mode and manner at which this should be done is of paramount importance. We must be skeptical here, no good result can be achieved in a dash.
I read a statement particularly accredited to Barr. Anslem Ojezua (formal APC State Chairman), wherein he stated that “…there must be something for the Governor”. Well, I was a little bit at sea trying to understand him. If he is suggesting that there has not been anything for the Governor, then he needs to check and ensure he is standing well, because that is not the best advice to oblige the Governor right now. A Governor that got a waiver immediately after defecting to a political party; got the party ticket to contest for the position ahead of other party aspirants; was allowed to take a Deputy Governor candidate of his choice; got the full support from the Old PDP members before and during the election; and also got to make vital State appointment (SSG) from his side, can we sincerely say that he is been cheated or not given a fair treatment in the party? Maybe I Really do not understand what Mr. Ojezua meant though.
However, the Governor should know that dissolution of the State Party Executive should not come now, even if I agree that the new PDP should be inculcated in the party structure, reason being that it is ill-timed. There are a lot of issues bedeviling the State right now. For starters, some Local Governments in the State (like mine) have no presence or representation in the Government, that is: no representative in the State House of Assembly; no Local Government Chairman; no representative in State Executive Cabinet (either as Commissioner or Special Adviser to the Governor). These are issues. At the build up to the September 2020 election in the State, we made a lot of electoral promises because of the intensive campaign that went round the entire wards in the State. We have the issue of security challenge in every corner of the State. The Governor needs to attend to all these issues, he should not give himself to distractions and inconsequential, four years is already reduced by six months and it is counting down every day. The Governor needs to harmonize first from his end.
The party issue can easily be resolved internally, but the Governor must act as the leader he is and consider every interest without fear or favour. I understand this would be an arduous task for him considering the avaricious nature of some politicians, however this is expected and it behoves the Governor to decipher as a leader.
Ordinarily, I’d have expected the Governor to ask the question, “what is there for the Old PDP members that gave him platform to fly?”. Presently, they have no presence in the State Government Executive, the only place they occupy is the State Party Executive which the Governor and the new PDP met. They are still hoping and waiting on the Governor to bring them in to his Government. Now, calling for the dissolution of the said Party Executive instead of creating room for them to be part of the State Executive Government is like raising a red flag to indicate a total exclusion of the Old PDP members from both the State Party Executive and the Government, even if this is not the true and actual intention of the Governor. The Old PDP members have to be first given a sense of belonging which would give them a sense of recognition in the Governor’s plan, this was why I noted earlier that the call for dissolution was ill-timed.
The Governor must act accordingly and skeptically in this regard. He should come up with an Executive cabinet (which is seemingly overdue) with representation from both sides (the Old PDP and the New PDP), when all these are done, we can then go inward to talk about harmonization of the State Party structure. Howbeit, the Government has to start working first, we can’t start giving excuses at this point. The Governor needs to set the ball rolling, so many other things depend on this. According to a fellow party man Gideon Biezugbe: “Edo people may forgive the PDP but not Obaseki if he fails to accomplish his campaign promises in this second term… at least optimally.”
On a final note, may I also use this medium to call on all that have been throwing tantrums and abuses on fellow party members to kindly cease and desist from doing so, any negative statement made against a party member has many negative effects on the party. Let’s be civil and courteous even if we must criticize or condemn an act, this phase would surely pass.
God bless the good people of Edo State.
Elabor Joe Agbebaku Esq.
(PDP Member and Mobilizer)
