In a video published by the AIT, which has now gone viral, Obaseki said that youths in Nigeria no longer want APC and PDP;
“The future of our politics is changing. If you have been watching the level of disenchantment with the existing political parties.
“I’m sure in all our homes, we have people who call themselves ‘Obidients’. Ask them which party you belong to, they say ‘Obidient’ They don’t want us.
“They’re not talking about APC or PDP. They’re looking for alternatives.”
The PDP, expecially in Edo State, must take more than just a passing interest in this show of support for the Labour Party by Governor Godwin Obaseki for obvious reasons.
First, the governor has been neck deep in a protracted war to forcefully take over the structure of the party from its leaders who helped him into the party when he left APC, and campaigned for him vigorously to win the 2020 gubernatorial election. And this has not been working for him so he is disenchanted with the Party. And suffice to say, since 2020, the governor has not organized or participated in any single rally to woo members to join PDP. There is no archived record of this, rather, because of his unchecked disposition of handling the Party’s affairs where infighting is the order of the day, some members in different senatorial districts, expecially Edo North and Edo South, has left the Party to join APC.
Secondly, there have been rumours that some of his new PDP members had taken forms for Houses of Assembly and Representives in Labour Party and those forms were filled and signed in the Edo State Government House. Some of these members were said to have participated in the parrallel primaries under the Governor’s camp and are not too sure there will be successes in their respective bids as it seems the Chief Dan Orbih’s camp is having upper hand legally having been recognized by INEC as directed by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
So from the governor’s subtle and veiled campaign for the Labour Party in a meeting that was supposed to be for the reconciliation of warring parties, this leaves much to be investigated by the Party as to know the true intention of his disavowed statement against PDP he had never campaigned for since 2020 after winning the election.
The PDP must take note of this dismissive statement of the governor which is nothing less than a deliberate act to demarket PDP in Edo State. What are the statistics he used to arrive at his conclusion? Will Labour Party win in Zamfara, Kastina, Borno or Sokoto States? Will labour win in Edo even with his support? If he had been managing the party well in the state without fighting on every front, if he had been performing as expected in areas of governance, if he had over the past 6 years been able to meet with the yearnings and longings of citizens, won’t the Party have been attractive? If there were quality teachers in schools, doctors and nurses in hospitals, roads are tarred, unions are not barred from their constitutional rights, promises through MOUs are kept, higher institutions are not closed down without consideration for the welfare of the lecturers, no fights with the traditional institutions to which most citizens revere, won’t the Party be attractive? How many state governments can categorically openly express such show of resignation that the party under which they are ruling is not attractive without knowing it is self indictive? Should APC that is in the opposition in the state be the one that should be more attractive?
It is high time we left political correctness behind and actually find out the exact mission of Governor Godwin Obaseki in PDP. It has been said, it must be said again. I know that the State PDP Chairman, Dr Anthony Aziegbemi nor the National Chairman, Senator Ayu, will never take disciplinary actions, but let it be enshrined in the annals of history that the malfeasances of the governor in PDP are noted.
Postscript:
And Governor Nyesom Wike ought to understand more than I do about the intrigues of politics, he has been there: you win some, you loose some. He should not be seen as a sore loser by hobnobbing with the likes of Governor Umahi of APC who called him unprintable names. He should not be seen with Peter Obi fueling rumour of his defection to Labour Party, one who had been demarketing PDP. In spite of his shortcomings, like every human, Wike has been a respected and dedicated PDP member. He has done so much for the Party, and members acknowledge that. Let it not be seen that because he lost in this contest of presidency or the VP slot, he now want to destroy the party he helped to build. The larger members of the party appreciates him, even if a negligeable few don’t, and they appreciated him more when he said no matter the outcome of the primaries, he will remain in the Party. That’s how a true party man speaks; he should keep to his words in spite of the perceived conspiracy by those who don’t mean well for the party. Now the ovation is loudest about a specific committee set up to appease him, he should take advantage and let bygone be bygone.
Dr Ukposisi imagbenikaro, a political analyst and public affairs commentator based in Abuja