Edo 2024: No Need to  Search for New Candidate, PDP Told

A former Political Adviser to former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, Mr. Charles Idahosa, has told the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to search for a new candidat that will fly the party flag because one had been in the waiting since 2020.

He also cautioned the party leadership not to jettison the agreement the party had with a former member of the House of Representatives, Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, in the build-up to the party’s primaries in 2020.

Ogbeide-Ihama represented Oredo federal constituency in the Green Chamber of the National Assembly.

Idahosa, now a chieftain of the PDP, spoke in Benin -city, the capital of Edo State, adding that he decided to speak out because he was instrumental to Ogbeide-Ihama’s withdrawal from the 2020 gubernatorial race to pave the way for Governor Godwin Obaseki, who was shut out by the All Progressives Congress(APC).

He disclosed that at that time, the PDP made some promises to Ogbeide- Ihama after pleading with him to yield his ticket to Obaseki, adding that the time to fulfill the promise and reward party loyalty is now. 

He therefore, warned the party leaders should not create problems the party won’t recover from because he could see that the national leadership of the party has been trying to resolve the issues in the party of recent.

Idahosa, who added that the governors and the leaders of the PDP knew what led to the said agreement with Ogbeide-Ihama, said: “They (party leaders) should give it (primaries) their best; handle it with care because I am afraid if they don’t handle it with care, it will affect the PDP.”

He further stated: “They know the kind of agreement they reached, that was breached and that brought us to where we are today. They should work harder because the reality is very clear. It is crystal clear. It is like daylight.

“The truth of the matter is that the national leadership  should do what is right, all those who took part in the agreement and settlement with Ogbeide-Ihama who was already the candidate of the PDP before we forced him down, are still alive, even if they are no more governors, they are still relevant, they should say the agreement they reached at that time and they should tell us who fulfilled his own or who did not because if by any error of omission or commission, they deny Ogbeide-Ihama the governorship ticket which he is supposed to get because of what they arranged for Obaseki to come in, who was given a waiver by the same national, PDP is finished in Edo State.”

The former aide to Oshiomhole said that the PDP leaders needed to be careful so as not to repeat the mistakes made by the APC when it chased away Obaseki from its midst in 2020.

“Ogbeide-Ihama was already the candidate of  PDP, it was already clear, nobody was going to stop him. I invited him to my house. He and Osaro Idah, because we are related. Here in my sitting room. I pleaded with him and he stepped down.

“I told Obaseki, you go and discuss with them. That was how they went to Port Harcourt. He left here in my house in the night with one of his uncles, his mother’s immediate younger brother, a retired director in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. He is alive today. It is like after reading 48 Laws of Power, where they told you to destroy those who made you and that is what he is doing,” he added.

He also said that as a result of developments within the party in Edo State, the party was already becoming unpopular, adding that only the choice of the right candidate would save the PDP from imminent collapse.

He further submitted: “I can tell you that if the right person is not given, which is Ogbeide-Ihama, he deserves it because everybody begged him to step down. He did not only step down, he became Obaseki’s agent with INEC. I know what was promised him by the powers that be….they have turned Edo State into a farm. They go and bring their friends from Ikoyi Club, and Ikeja Country Club to come and eat.”