Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
There were indications yesterday that the Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki may be heading for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following his disqualification from the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial primary in the state.
A top member of Obaseki’s faction of the APC in Edo State, told Saturday Sun that the governor is weighing all the options available to him in the actualisation of his second term ambition and will announce his next line of action in a few days.
According to the source, there have been pressure on the governor to dump the ruling party owing to the face-off between him and his predecessor and National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole.
He stated that Obaseki had said he would remain in the APC and fight to the end as regards his aspiration to contest for a second term on the platform of the party.
The party chief, however, said following the disqualification of Obaseki by the APC screening committee for the Edo gubernatorial primary, it is obvious that the governor has reached the end of the road in the ruling party and may be joining the PDP in the next couple of days.
The party leader told our correspondent that before now, the Edo governor had commenced negotiation with leaders of the PDP over the possibility of flying the party ‘s flag in the September 19, governorship poll.
He explained that the talk broke down over who will be Obaseki’s running mate, should the PDP cede its governorship ticket to him. The source explained that why the governor insisted on retaining his deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, the leaders of the PDP, on the other hand, wants the Edo deputy governor dropped from the ticket.
“The main issue was the issue of deputy governorship candidate. They (PDP leaders) said they will give him a deputy and he (Obaseki) will drop his current deputy. The governor’s constraint has been dropping Shaibu, who is very loyal to him. However, events will unfold soon. Let’s say between now and next week, we will know where we are. The pressures have been on him to go to PDP, but he said he will fight the battle to the end,” the source said.
Nevertheless, he said with the turn of events, the negotiation between the governor and the opposition party is likely to resume, expressing hopes that the grey areas will be resolved.
A top PDP official told our correspondent yesterday that the opposition party is open to receiving any Nigerian, who is qualified into its fold.