Edo PDP Chieftains Disagree over State Ward Adhoc Delegates’ Congress

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

The leadership of the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has disagreed on the outcome of last Sunday’s ward delegates in the state.

The state chairman of the party, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi had last Monday in a briefing, said that the last Sunday’s ward delegates congress was the most well organised in the country in the history of the party.

But in a counter statement yesterday, the state Publicity Secretary of the party, Ogie Vasco in a statement said the process that led to the exercise was faulty and that despite complaints to the National Working Committee (NWC) they did not take the expected action.

He said that the decision to reject the exercise was after a “cursory overview of the whole charade put up by the state government and certain individuals in the NWC”.

Vasco said the leaders noticed that alleged agents of Governor Godwin Obaseki, made the stipulated venues inaccessible to the other nine aspirants and their supporters by flooding the venues with armed thugs.

He stated that they were hostile and intimidating, and would only grant access if an individual was going to vote for the pre-selected delegates in favour of the governor’s aspirant, explaining that consequently, no voting was conducted in 92 per cent of the stipulated venues.

“The office of the National Organising Secretary published three conflicting letters on the composition of officers in charge of the congress both at the wards and local government areas. The last letter consisted of names of serving government officials in Edo and Delta States. This irregular act had earlier been communicated to the national leadership of the party by the nine aspirants so affected.”

 “The materials for the conduct of the purported congress had been deposited with the state governor who is an interested party in this Congress, for days prior to the stipulated date. Where is the fairness the NWC has preached in the various engagements with stakeholders leading to this Congress? These and other infractions observed need to be addressed properly.

“Consequently, the leadership of the party calls on all party faithful to join in the call to right the wrongs of the sham perpetrated this past weekend. And also call for a total cancellation of the exercise,” he added.

Meanwhile, the state Assistant Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Ojebuoboh, has described Vasco as a meddlesome interloper, working with forces to undermine the party in the state, saying that at no time was he elected as publicity secretary of the party.

Ojebuoboh, who in a statement, urged the public to disregard and ignore Vasco, declared: “We would have ordinarily ignored the six-paragraph divisive scribbling filled with false and baseless ramblings on the party’s recently concluded ward delegate congress which took place simultaneously across the State, but for the sake of clarity, it is important to state that the rabble-rouser is an impostor and is not known to the PDP in Edo State.

“More so, signing off the statement from an address that is not known to be the address of the Edo PDP Secretariat, further gives him out as a meddlesome interloper and an agent of destabilization, who should be ignored by all party members and other stakeholders.”