Edo 2020: ‘You Can Only Join Us If….’ — PDP Gives Obaseki Tough Conditions

The leading opposition party in Nigeria, peoples democratic party (PDP), has given the embattled Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki, conditions under which he will be admitted into the party so that he can stand a chance to be re-elected as the governor of the state.

Obaseki was, on Friday, disqualified from the All Progressives Congress primary election following the detection of discrepancies in his educational and NYSC certificates.

But many observers believe his disqualification capped the long-standing imbroglio between him and the national chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole.

Oshiomhole, who was a former governor of Edo state, and Obaseki, for months on end, have been locked in a battle of nerve and wits over the political control of the state.

EkoHotBlog blog had reported on Sunday that Obaseki met with his Rivers counterpart, Nyesom Wike. Wike is known to be a leading figure in the PDP whose voice carries weight and imprimatur of consent from other members.

Though the duo didn’t divulge the details of their meeting, the meeting is widely believed to be about the speculation of Obaseki’s imminent defection to PDP

EkoHotBlog also gathered that the governor reached out to the PDP leadership on the possibility of contesting governorship on the party’s platform.

Also read: Obaseki/Oshiomhole Naked Brawl: When Will Our Primitive Politics Evolve?

However, to realise his second-term ambition, a highly placed source within the PDP top hierarchy, said the governor had been in contact with the party.

The governor was asked to take some steps before he could be admitted to be the party’s candidate in the coming election, Sunday PUNCH quoted a source who’s familiar with the situation to have said.

The source, who spoke on conditions of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the issue, told the newspaper that chief among the conditions was the directive that he (Obaseki) should meet with the three PDP governorship aspirants screened by the party’s screening committee for the primary.

The three screened PDP aspirants were Gideon Ikhine, Ogbeide Ihama and Kenneth Imansuangbon.

However, one of the aspirants insisted that he would not step down for the governor.

Though the party had yet to release the screening result, it was learnt that the three aspirants were likely to be cleared for the primary.

It was further learnt that the governor was also directed to meet with the party leadership in the state to seek their support and understanding.

The source said there was no way the national PDP would support the governor without the approval of its officials in the state, including the aspirants.

Investigations showed that the party leadership was afraid that if leaders in the state were not carried along in the arrangement, it could boomerang and lead to the defection of aggrieved members to either the APC or any other political party after the primary.

The source said, “We at the national level are not interested in imposing the governor or anyone on the party in the state. He is going to be their governor and the people of the state are the voters. Our own is to campaign for him and our party.

“The governor is not yet a member of our party. We have laboured to remain relevant in the state and our popularity shows that we are going to win the forthcoming election.

“We are talking to the leaders of our party in the state. They have the final say on whether the governor should join or not. The governor had been directed to speak with the state leaders, the members of our party’s National Executive Committee in the state, members of the Board of Trustees and also members of different caucuses.

“When that is done, we can talk to him and the people. The governor will also have to meet with the aspirants who have picked our nomination and expression of interest forms and agree on modalities.

“When they agree, we will come in and iron out what to do. For now, we are watching from the sidelines.”

The source added that whatever agreement the governor reached with the party leaders and the aspirants would form the basis of whether he would join the party or not.