From Tony Osauzo, Benin
The Edo State Chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has ratified the suspension of the National South-South Vice Chairman, Dan Orbih, member of the House of Representatives representing Oredo Federal Constituency, Hon Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama; State Secretary of the party Hilary Otsu; the party chairman for Oredo Local Government, Oduwa Igbinosun, and the Chairman for Oredo Ward 4, Mr Friday Enaruna.
Their suspension was ratified by all PDP leaders across the 18 Local Government Areas and the three senatorial districts of the state at an enlarged meeting of the leaders of the party, which was held in Benin City.
The ratification of the suspension followed a motion moved by Mike Nosa-Ehima, a leader of the PDP in Oredo Local Government Area, and was seconded by Sylvanus Eruaga, a leader of the party from Etsako West LGA.
‘All those that have refused to allow the party to grow are being suspended in the interest of the PDP,’ Nosa-Ehima said while addressing the party leaders.
State Governor Godwin Obaseki, on his part, stated: ‘There are people who have continued to come and feed you with lies. That is the nature of their politics, if there is no confusion they will not eat.
‘Last year, when we joined you, we started a movement that has never happened in Edo before, not even in our politics. If we go for election today, we will win by 85 per cent. It means we don’t have meaningful opposition and if this is the situation; we should not create opposition inside.
‘I will not leave PDP. I am the leader of PDP and, by the grace of God, I will lead PDP well. Anybody that doesn’t want me to lead or want to accept my leadership will leave PDP for me.
‘We are here to stay and invest in PDP. I am the governor to join PDP last and was made chairman of our e-registration process; so why should I leave the party? We came to meet PDP as a solid party the only true party in this country while others are special purpose vehicles for elections.
‘I said come let us harmonise and the harmonization is to carry everybody along. We don’t need to lie in politics. Politics is a game of numbers. For one year I have been begging for us to Harmonise. Went round when we wanted to make an appointment and the numbers of applications, we have been almost the same with the petition we received, it shows we have not harmonised.
‘I call all of you leaders of the party to come to build a solid party. We won our election last year because of our cooperation. United will stand and divided will fall. We are in PDP now for over a year.
‘We can’t escape from harmonisation if we want to go for National Convention. I have almost 300 to 400 political appointments I want to make.
‘People are greedy, politics is all about give-and-take. I appreciate PDP, we came, we won, we are not leaving PDP; we will not accept any opposition within PDP. If you are not happy with my leadership, you can leave us. Let all of us harmonise; some local governments have done their own, while some are still far behind.
‘By this weekend, please complete the harmonization. I am here to assure you that there is something for everyone that has worked for us and continue to work for us. The important thing is for us to continue to grow our party,’ he said.
In their comments, Mrs Philomena Ihenyen, Mr Johnson Abolagba and Mr Osaze Jesuorobo, who spoke for Edo Central, North and South senatorial districts, respectively, assured the governor of their readiness to harmonise.