Isaiah Jesuobo
After all the all the grandstanding by Governor Godwin Obaseki to annihilate the old PDP, he eventually called for a meeting on the 2nd of October, with less than 24 hours notice for over 300 leaders to attend. It was called the PDP Stakeholders Meeting. Notwithstanding, the list was filled with over 70% of the new PDP members and 20% of old PDP yesmen and bootlickers. To some old PDP members, it was like salt poured on a fresh wound that the governor would think of inviting sitting senators, house or reps members and CEOs to a meeting in Benin with just 24 hours notice like the gathering of restless area boys. They were tagged ‘stakeholders’ for beatification when the governor actually see them as the emperor’s subjects. And to this disrespect, the leaders and real stakeholders of the party resolved within themselves not to attend.
By the side, it is worthy of note that over 300 persons, including some political hangers-on, waifs and strays who were not invited, were allowed into the venue. The reason, as alleged, was not far-fetched: most came to harass and perhaps fight those leaders, stakeholders and dissenting voices who are being seen as opposed to the lordly governor. However, the plot failed woefully as no PDP stakeholder now trust the governor who plays smart.
The meeting was anticipated to fail, and it did fail. The governor now sensing obviously that the population of the disenchanted is growing, he changed the luckwarm meeting to ‘PDP Meets, Harmonizes Ahead of National Convention.’ What exactly did the party needed to harmonize on ahead of the national convention? Were all these over 200 invited so called stakeholders delegates? What about the gate crashers and the traducers who attended the meeting they were not invited?
The truth is, the meeting was more of a soliloquy where the governor was talking to himself in a somewhat monologue.
The meeting was a failed jamboree just like the ones that were conducted across LGAs months ago where leaders were given stipends ranging from #20,000 to #50,000, depending on your status, to chorus “we pass vote of confidence on the governor and his deputy…” I wondered what necessitated such a shadow chasing endeavour. No meaningful agreement was reached, not even the planned dissolution of the Excos.
Truth be told, Governor Godwin Obaseki should sit down and face what he was elected for instead of chasing these morbid modulations that are making PDP a laughing stock in Edo State. A full year had passed, no commissioners and no LGA elections; this has broken bad records in the country. By now, one would expect Edo to have turned into a construction site instead of gathering of hundreds of party members into one space without COVID-19 vaccination cards to show that they have been vaccinated