The secretary of the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr Hilary Otsu in this interview dissects the issues in the party and how the emergence of Governor Godwin Obaseki turned the party asunder.
The PDP in Edo State was unshakeable for years but with the way things are, it seems the party is falling apart in Edo State. What is the genesis of the problem confronting the state chapter of the party?Yes PDP had been unshakable in Edo State since 1999. What you see today is not just a falling apart but a failing attempt to emasculate the political class in Edo State through a scripted conspiracy by political masqueraders. Their intent was to systematically eliminate the legacy members and structure of the Party, and hand it to gangs of insensitive apolitical jobbers.It all began when HE Governor Obaseki was disqualified and pushed out of the party that brought him to prominence, the APC. To quickly arrest the embarrassing fallout of his disqualification, he sought refuge in the PDP. Immediately, these apolitical jobbers, both in the PDP and APC, swung into action. They encouraged him to join the PDP and, in his own words, “sold the PDP structure” to him.With this, the Governor developed the entitlement and ownership mentality with which he has been operating. What he didn’t realise is that these people sold him a dummy as they neither had the party structure nor followership structure to sell. However, the Governor went ahead to set up his government, without any regards for the real stakeholders he met in the Party. This is sacrilege, a total disregard for the structure that gave him succor. So as his second tenure kicked off, he began to agitate for dissolution of the existing party structure from the State to the Ward levels, so that he can have a firm grip on the structure, and exercise his pronouncement as the leader of the Party. Churchill, please note that leadership doesn’t work by pronouncement.
Naturally the legacy structures quickly engaged defensive mechanisms and took political steps. Some members did not even wait to see if he could make any progress in that regards, so they immediately went to a Federal High Court to obtain an order restraining any authority from dissolving any Edo PDP exco at any level.
This order is in perpetuity and if the NWC even tries to do it, it wont stand. At several interactions with the Governor, he never ceased to express his desire for dissolution, to which we always responded with emphatic negative reactions. There is a memo where I stated a few options for a mutually beneficial working relationship between the State Government and the Party structure.
I also emphasized the fact that a number of State Working Committee members were personally willing to take up Cabinet positions and relinquish their Party offices, so that he could fill their positions with his choices. He kept insisting that the Party structure, as it were, could not work and must be dissolved and reconstituted.
For many of us, including the State Chairman, we were surprised at his position, considering the legal implications and the fact that tempers were now rising. As his first year came to an end, rapprochement which we tried to bring about continued to evade us. By the start of 2022, I am sure you realized that the center certainly couldn’t hold and the Congresses/Primaries exposed the extent of the disconnect between the State Government and the Party. The State Government went ahead to organize parallel congresses and primaries, attempting to muscle Edo INEC. Eventually, we ended up in court, Ayu and his cohorts sacrificed the Party guidelines and constitution on the alter of corruption, and the rest is history.
Have there been suggestions or resolutions to address the disputes within the party? If yes, how far with the situation?
Yes, I stated this earlier. I said there were memos from the Party, and a harmonization committee was also set up, Chaired by Chief Osaro Idah and myself as Secretary, with Barr. Anselm Ojezua, Mrs. Sorae and a couple others as members. Also a committee of four PDP governors was convened in Abuja. I am sure you heard the titbits that came out of that nocturnal meeting, the concessions reached and the eventual reneging by the Governor. All efforts and deliberations have been in vain.
Today, people are resigning from the party. Even key members who held the fort are no longer showing interest in the party’s affairs in Edo State. Why is this so?
Ans: In the words of one prominent Governorship aspirant who has left the Party, the Governor has openly demonstrated his desire to impose a stranger to succeed him, if the opportunity presents itself. Owing to the refusal of the Governor to reach a compromise and incorporate the legacy PDP members into his government structure, most of those resigning do not believe they can exist in a Party where the Government is totally disconnected from the Party, and does not consider party members when opportunities arise. Instead most of the MDAs are headed by “technocrats” from other states along with consultants whose consultation is shrouded in mystery. I spoke with several of these members who are leaving the Party, and the story is the same. Nobody feels any sense of belonging anymore.
We all know that a divided house cannot stand. With resignations of members from the party, can the umbrella party withstand the opposition party in the forthcoming governorship election?
Of course, it is difficult for a divided house to stand. Many watchers have been expecting the Governor to convene a meeting of a few political leaders to look into the issue of reconciliation. It must be noted that no serious effort has been made in this regard, and like I always say to so-called mediators, the Governor holds the key. He is empowered to summon any and everyone as he chooses.
But he says he does not want to meet with leaders of the Party. No political structure exists without leadership cadres. Issues flow from the top to the bottom and not the reverse. The Governor has chosen the reverse and see what we have today. To answer the question, NO, we cannot withstand opposition next year if we remain like this. The Presidential election results clearly show this. So you can see that as he is stagnating PDP, the APC and Labour Parties are gaining momentum.
From observations, the PDP looks passive these days in Edo State. Has the party lost his steam? Is there still power to give to the people? Is PDP gradually drifting to extinction in Edo State?
Ans: An emphatic NO. PDP isn’t going into extinction. With all that has transpired you can see that the primary party structures from Ward to State are intact. The commitment of the core legacy members, under the leadership of Chief Dan Orbih, is unwavering. A few people may have succumbed to pressures and jumped ship, but 90% of the structure is intact, and the State Working Committee is intact despite the isolation and marginalization by the State Government.
The State Deputy Chairman is strongly committed to the preservation of the SWC, as well as most members, except the State Chairman. All this is because we are faithful and believe in the leadership and the sanctity of our party constitution. For example, I have never received any patronage from the State Government before, but the burden of administering the State Secretariat has been borne by me since 2020. No contribution from the government except payment of salaries to the permanent staff. But does that four storey building run on water and air?
No. There is recurrent expense to take care of bills, consumables, imprest, obligations and so on. These are all funded from my personal expenses. Do you know that when we got into office, we had to embark on a renovation of that secretariat. We got to a point when we ran out of money, we went to take a loan from Chief Dan Orbih, which we haven’t finished repaying till this day. Show me any other PDP controlled State where such is the case.
Governors of the party recently met to look at ways to resolve the differences within the party. Has there been any mechanism put in place to ensure the party regains its stand in Edo State?
Ans: What I keep hearing is the endless agitation for the dissolution of the execos by the Governor, at that meeting. But, I understand he was reminded that in just three years, his entry into the party has sadly liquidated the goodwill and fortunes of the party and any dissolution, albeit illegal, will exacerbate the ugly crisis and we could lose Edo State to APC in 2024. His position is that he can no longer work with us. You may ask, has he ever worked with us?
The local government election is in few months’ time, and some aggrieved members of the PDP are of the opinion that they were not consulted before candidates were selected. What is your take on this?
Ans: Clearly, the process of the selection of PDP candidates is fraught with illegalities and unconstitutional acts. As the State Secretary of the Party, I was not even aware nomination forms were to be sold, much less party primaries. I only saw a notice purportedly signed by the Organising Secretary, asking aspirants to buy nomination forms and pay into an account with the name of an NGO. It still baffles me how people go to equity with soiled hands. Someone sits and concocts such an illegal and criminal act, and you expect God-fearing people to sit and watch? Well, I know you are aware of the matter in court, to stop the illegally nominated candidates from participating in the election.That’s it. To your question, I have heard uncountable stories of dictatorial selection or substitution of candidates by the State Chairman and others. From the start, the process was designed to exclude all legacy PDP members, because after selling forms and collecting admin costs for over two weeks, the Chairman announced that all aspirants who didn’t win their units and wards were not qualified to buy forms. Seriously? Changing the rules in the middle of the game? Based on this, an “in-house” selection was done after the purported primaries, and that’s why you hear news of protests and complaints of substitution of names by the Chairman, from Esan South East to Orhionmwon, from Ovia to Etsako West, Oredo to Uhunmwode and so on. In 2023 we are still talking about imposition of candidates in Edo PDP? It’s simply preposterous.
