PDP EDO STATE CRISIS: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY
The crisis in the PDP cannot be ignored. With a great chance of winning the general elections for the Governor’s seat the PDP certainly must get it right this time around.
The fight between Bar. Sado and Chief Dan Orbih led to the emergence of Late Bar. Ikhabafe, it was the only way to bring peace to the party as an agreement could not be reached between the two. When Bar. Ikhabafe passed on Chief Dan Orbih took over his seat as PDP Edo State Chairman in 2009 and was affirmed again in 2011 for a second term.
The issue is not if Chief Dan Orbih is qualified to contest for the seat for a third time, but if returning him back to the esteem position is worth it for the party. Keeping in mind that he has spent at least six years in office it is Chief Dan Orbih’s performance that is under review and although the party constitution agrees to up to two terms “63(1) TENURE OF OFFICE OF PARTY OFFICERS – All National, Zonal, State, Local Government Area and Ward Officers of the Party shall hold office for a term of four years and shall be eligible for re-election for another term and no more.” The same does not state that a chairman or any elected officer must return for a second term. The members of the PDP have a right to vote out any officer they believe has not performed up to their expectations and vote in someone else.
In an article published on social media by Mr. Chris Nehikhare it stated that Chief Dan Orbih did not play ethnic politics. Members of the PDP in Edo North disagree.
According to the Party’s zoning policies when positions are zoned to a particular constituency if for any reason that position is vacated before the end of its term, that a person from the same zone should occupy the position. The position of Organizing secretary was zoned to Owan West, however when the position was vacated before its term ended the position was never filled by anyone from the same zone, what Chief Dan Orbih did was create a position that did not exist in the Constitution called “welfare officer” and a close female friend of his from Etsakor occupied that position. In 2014 when the position of Senatorial chairman zoned to Owan West was vacated before its term ended no one from the same zone occupied this position rather Chief Dan Orbih gave the position to his friend Hon. Tenebe also from Etsakor leaving Owan West without a voice in the Exco.
In fact by the time Chief Dan Orbih was done, the office of the State Chairman, the senatorial chairman, the senatorial Woman leader and the organizing secretary aka welfare officer all came from the Etsakor area. The zoning policies of the PDP was borne out of the interest of fairness, something which Chief Dan Orbih has greatly violated.
With everything that has gone wrong in the party one cannot ignore the involvement of a major player, the former Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih pending a new congress to elect officials for the party.
Since Chief Dan Orbih was made chairman, in fact imposed on the party, the party has been on a steady losing streak. Now Chris Nehikhare claimed in his write up that he has been an opposition to the ACN/APC and that he has been a nightmare to Governor Oshiomhole. No one can deny that he (Orbih) has not held a lot of press conferences, made a lot of videos and shouted about the ills going on in Edo State or done well as the publicity secretary, but all the noise has still not earned us a win. Another argument may be that we got seats in the last election, but everyone knows that that was due to then President Goodluck Jonathan and when he lost his election we lost all the House of Assembly seats and one house of representative position in the Orhionmwon/Uhunmwonde Constituency also in Edo South, We lost two seats only in Edo Central due to their doggedness, We lost all house of representative seats in Edo North, the senate seat in Edo North and five out of six seats in the House of Assembly election, the same Edo North District which Chief Dan Orbih comes from.
Chief Dan Orbih has never voted in any election, we question if he has a voters card. His vote has never been counted among winning or losing votes. Every election he claims that the youths have barricaded him in his home at Ogbonna, when we sent scouts to verify this information we found Chief Dan Orbih drinking champagne and eating bush meat, while the rest of us fought in our units for the party to win. Chief Dan Orbih has never won his unit, his ward, or his LGA; he has never been on ground to make sure that his party wins. Money sent for the party to work is kept by this man who could care less if we won or lost.
A State Chairman who cannot win his unit, how is he expected to win the state. The majority of the people of Edo North do not believe in the ability of Chief Orbih to win this next election, he has no integrity or credibility, a sell out and a noise maker. As the saying goes “empty vessels make much noise”, this is Chief Dan Orbih, a man who has nothing to offer to the PDP or its members.
Chief Dan Orbih operated as a one man team despite his executives. He was the woman leader, treasurer, financial secretary, auditor, the organizing secretary aided by the welfare officer and most especially the Publicity secretary, many of us would without hesitation vote him into that position.
He directly violated the party’s policies and constitution by depositing party money into his personal account irrespective of the fact the Party has an official account. He never accounted for the party’s money. As we also heard recently that 500 million of the Dasuki money was deposited into his personal account for the elections last year, yet we could hardly win a seat in his District.
To cover up his tracks last week he called a meeting of some LGA chairmen where he wanted them to say that he had given them some of the Dasuki money, most of them realizing the implication of doing so refused to participate. We will be finished if prior to the elections the chairman of our dear party is picked up by the EFCC. Chief Dan Orbih is unaccountable to the members of the PDP and lacks transparency, he is arrogant, disrespectful, and abusive to party members.
As a party chairman irrespective of his opinion regarding the aspirants of the party, it was his duty to remain objective. He should never have taken it upon himself to promote only one aspirant which he has done in grave error. Although, all of this began before his term expired in September 2015 and continued after he illegally made himself the caretaker committee also in violation of the party’s constitution.
Our message to the Edo people cannot be violence one which is promoted by Orbih’s aspirant. We need a candidate that actually has ideas on how to administer a state and is able to deal with the economic crisis, one that is credible and without baggage, not one that does have baggage, could not win his constituency for the House of Representative election, lost the battle of wits for the deputy seat in his previous party, chanting cult songs at rallies and preparing the state for thugs, miscreants and hoodlums to take over.
That aside, having primaries allows for the people to make the right choice, and determine who is the best person to field. We cannot develop a strategy based on violence either. To win this the Edo people have demanded for one who has the well withal. To field a person who has so much baggage and who has also admitted to being a failure since a government he was part of failed woefully would be a disaster. This is not war it is an election and we need to do it right.
It is a flawed thought to believe that only one person can do a job. It is also flawed to fail to try something new because of fear.
We should be wise in our decision, doing the same thing can definitely not bring a different result. A man who has never won his unit can certainly never win a state.
Our slogan is clear, when we say Power to the people we have a clear understanding that the power lies in the people through their vote and not one man.
May God be our guide