A stakeholders meeting called by Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki has been trailed by controversy as some leaders of the party have openly disagreed with the meeting and its outcome.
Obaseki had reportedly convened a Stakeholders Meeting with a said aim of harmonising the party ahead of a National Convention slated for October ending.
But the said Stakeholders Meeting was said to have not gone well with some party leaders as it was reported that delegate list compiled by Secretary of the party- Peoples Democratic Party, PDP – in the state was different from the one circulated which was believed to have emanated from the Governor’s office.
The State Secretary of the PDP, Hillary Otsu had released a list of 233 selected leaders of the party for a meeting with the governor in Government House over the weekend.
It was gathered that in the said meeting, some prominent leaders of the PDP including the secretary himself, Chief Dan Orbih and others did not attend the meeting where the Governor was said to have made it clear that he as the leader of the party has taken charge of the party and gave one week ultimatum for the leaders to integrate members of the party that came with him from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the ward and local government excos.
One of the leaders who was in the meeting said, “The governor made himself very clear that he is the leader of the party and he is taking charge. He gave a one week deadline for all the leaders to integrate the new members into the leadership, this he said would lead to the release of the remaining commissioners to now have a full state cabinet”
But a statement by the Special Adviser to Obaseki on Media Projects, Crusoe Osagie, said the stakeholders meeting was for harmonization ahead of the party’s National Convention slated to hold at the end of October 2021.
“PDP is organising its convention at the end of October and this meeting is to prepare us for the convention. There were few house-keeping issues that we needed to discuss and clear, so it was important to get everybody across the divide to have a session like this, to get feedback and also take decisions on what to do and make progress in the state,” the statement reads.
READ ALSO: EndSARS: Edo Panel Members Express Worry Over Obaseki’s Insincerity
The statement continues, “Naturally not all will be happy in a situation like this and we have tried to address some of the concerns of our people who feel unhappy as a result of certain things that may have happened.”
“The key issue was that of harmonization, seeing how to bring in all parties to the table to have an expanded party in the state. The commitment obtained from them is that within a week, those areas not cleared will be dealt with and they will come back to me with their resolution,” the governor disclosed.
But Otsu, in another statement said a list was compiled by himself and the Secretary to Government, based on defined categories but that the list which was circulated before the meeting did not represent the full list as compiled.
“Some names were left out, despite belonging to the categories of invitees that were identified. Essentially, the final fist was not endorsed by me before it was circulated.”