As the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State holds its governorship primary election today, different camps that are rooting for 10 aspirants will lock horns in a contest that will make or mar the party, MICHAEL EGBEJULE reports.

All seems not to be well with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State as the jostle for the governorship ticket is further widening the gulf among factions. The ad-hoc ward delegate congress, local government delegates’ congress, and the national delegates election held recently, which has already received the blessings of Governor Godwin Obaseki, has also not helped the friction.

The party has fixed today, Thursday, for the primary election following the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) timetable that stipulated the February 24 date for conclusion of party primaries in the state.

It is, however, not known the method the party intends to deploy in electing its candidate. Nonetheless, political activities have peaked in preparation for the party’s primary as aspirants have taken their consultation to all 18 local government councils to meet with leaders and delegates to solicit their support.

No fewer than 10 aspirants cut across the three senatorial districts of the state are jostling to clinch the governorship ticket of the party. They include Deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, Asue Ighodalo, Osaro Onaiwu, Anselm Ojezua, Felix Akhabue;  Martin Uhomoibhi, Omosede Igbinedion, Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, Arthur Esene and Umoru Hadizat.

Recall that Governor Obaseki had recently held talks with the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike on the coming election and possibly his thinking on his preferred candidate for the PDP in the election.

As it is, while the faction of the party being led by the governor has expressed satisfaction with the congress recently held, another faction –Legacy Coalition – comprising traditional members of the party, are insisting that the exercise was a sham and should not be relied on by the party in choosing the governorship candidate.

Leading the Legacy Coalition of the PDP is a former Edo State PDP chairman and incumbent National Vice Chairman (South-South) of the party, Chief Dan Orbih.

Orbih’s group are seriously perturbed by how the group, being led by the governor, are calling the shots and setting the tempo on how the candidate could emerge, following from the fact that most of the members were not foundation members of the party.

Although the constitution of the party has reposed its leadership on the governor, the worry in the opposition camp within the party is that a single individual should not decide the fate of members of the party in the choice of the governorship ticket.

The struggle for the control of the party structure, no doubt has left the leadership of the party in disarray in the last four years owing to supremacy battles between two factions. The struggle however, is being compounded by the outcome of the ad-hoc delegates’ election, conducted recently by a team led by Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah. It is these ad-hoc members elected at the congress that will vote in the primary for the governorship candidate on Thursday.

The outcome is unsettling members of the PDP Legacy Coalition, who have continued to warn the Obaseki’s faction that the conduct of Ad-Hoc Ward Delegate Elections is an exercise in futility. They have also vowed to resist the intimidating prowess of a sitting governor and leader of the PDP in Edo State to foist his candidate on the party.

The Legacy Coalition members have their preferred aspirant in Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama. He has however, never been in the good books of Governor Obaseki and has not received support from him. It is also not a secret that the governor is supporting Asue Ighodalo, and his decision has pitched him against his deputy, who will also slug it out with other aspirants.

It was gathered that nine of the 10 aspirants, with the exception of Ighodalo, had earlier petitioned Governor Seyi Makinde and the National Working Committee (NWC), alleging that Edo and Delta State government officials have adulterated the list of election officers.

The party leadership in Edo State has been making frantic efforts to unite the warring faction but to no avail. The state chairman of the PDP, Dr Tony Aziegbemi, had in a move to promote unity among Obaseki’s faction and the Coalition members said there was no preferred aspirant, promising all aspirants a level playing field.

This persuasion did not make any meaning to the leaders of Legacy Coalition, who are bent on taking their battle to another level. Countering the position of the Legacy Coalition PDP members on the ad-hoc ward delegates congress, Aziegbemi said the election was fair and credible.

He also disagreed with the nine PDP aspirants, who are insisting that the process and compositions of those who conducted the delegates’ election are unacceptable and would not stand.

But arguing that fighting one another at this critical time in preparation for the governorship primary election is capable of bringing the PDP to disrepute ahead of the governorship election scheduled for September 21, Orbih may be seeking higher authorities’ intervention to upturn the process. His group described as a show of shame the ad-hoc congress purportedly supervised by the Governor of Enugu, Peter Mbah

Orbih said: “What took place recently was Obaseki’s ad-hoc delegate election and not PDP’s. I have listened to the position of the aspirants, who disassociated themselves from yesterday’s show of shame purportedly supervised by the governor of Enugu, who flew into Benin and after meeting Obaseki in Government House went with him to George Idah collation centre to record a television scene to justify the illegalities carried out across the state.

“Let me join all of you to condemn and reject the shameless show of yesterday. I am happy the aspirants are taking steps to set aside the sad Nollywood event. Be assured that like Liverpool fans, you will never walk alone. I appeal to all party faithful to remain calm. I will once again declare that Edo PDP will not support a foreigner for the 2024 guber election.”

Taking a swipe at the aggrieved aspirants and the Legacy Coalition members, Assistant State Publicity Secretary of the party, Dr Bolaji Ojebuoboh, declared that party members were also available to be lobbied to vote for and support whichever delegate they preferred.

He queried their position, noting that it is unheard of for a player in a match to want to become part of the officiating team. He insisted that the guidelines for the ward delegate congress were made available by the NWC to aspiring delegates, while party members were also available to be lobbied to vote for and support whichever delegate they preferred.

Ojebuoboh, who cautioned that Orbih and his co-travellers under the guise of Legacy Coalition, have chosen to undermine the party for their “personal and selfish interests with the shameful smear campaigns to discredit the just concluded ad-hoc ward delegate election”, describing their position as quite preposterous.

“First, it is important to state that the duty and powers of organising a delegate election lie in the hands of the NWC of the PDP, and in its wisdom, the NWC set up a five-man Ad-hoc Ward Delegate Electoral Committee led by Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, in line with the PDP Constitution and the Committee successful organised what is today recognised as one of the best congresses ever organised in the recent history of the state.

“Also, governorship aspirants do not determine who becomes a delegate but party members and PDP members across the state came out in their numbers at the weekend to elect their preferred delegates ahead of the national delegates election. Hence, the allegations that two persons wrote the congress results are totally false, divisive and misleading,” Ojebuoboh said.

Ojebuoboh explained further that the NWC has also set up an Appeal Committee, which is still currently sitting in Abuja pointing out that 99.9 per cent of the delegates, who contested did not file an appeal.

“However, all the governorship aspirants will know the names of the delegates as soon as they are published thereafter, they can lobby these delegates to vote for them at the governorship primaries, which is scheduled to take place on February 22, 2024,” he added.

The disaffection and unhealthy political rivalry, if not addressed within the shortest possible time may throw up challenges for the party in the build up to the governorship election as there are chances that the impasse may signal the end of the ruling party in the event that the PDP fails to put its house in order before, during and after the elections.

According to the schedule of congresses and primaries by INEC, the following political parties are contesting the Edo governorship election include, All Progressives Congress (APC), PDP, Labour Party (LP), Accord, Action Alliance (AA), African Democratic Congress (ADC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Action Peoples Party (APP), Boot Party (BP), New Nigeria Peoples Party NPPP),  National Rescue Movement (NRM),  Peoples  Redemption Party (PRP), Social  Democratic Party (SDP), Young Progressives Party (YPP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).