*Need to rein in Orbih, Ogbeide-Ihama’s recklessness in the interest of Edo PDP*

The unfolding drama trailing the outcome of the ward congress to elect 3 adhoc delegates for the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) primaries in Edo State has outed the National Vice Chairman, South-South of the PDP, Chief Dan Osi Orbih and member representing Oredo Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, as divisive elements within Edo PDP.

In the last few weeks, there has been a deliberate campaign of calumny to rubbish the conduct of the poll by the Dr. Kingsley Emu-led Edo PDP Ward adhoc Congress Electoral Committee. The thrust of the campaign by these detractors is that either the congress is declared invalid or that they would disrupt the conduct of the scheduled party primaries to elect members to the State House of Assembly, House of Representatives and Senate, in the state. To achieve this and to the befuddling of party members , supporters and the general public, they have once again approached a federal high court in Abuja in pursuit of their dastardly plan. 


For the record and to state the truth of the matter, the delegates election held on April 30th 2022, and was duly supervised by a team from the National headquarters of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) led by Dr. Emu. It is a fact and indisputable.


It is therefore rather unfortunate that some elements within the party in the state, namely Chief Dan Orbih and Hon. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, for their selfish interest, have deliberately muddied the waters so as to cause confusion and deceive unsuspecting party members on the authenticity of an exercise that has the imprimatur of the party at both the State and National level.

For their gains, they want to mortgage the fortunes of the party, preferring that party members rather live in the dark, when they ought to know the true state of things and make informed decisions especially as the general elections beckon.  

From the onset, Orbih and Ogbeide-Ihama claimed that they have the party structure under their control, boasting that delegates across the three senatorial districts are answerable to them. If that were the case, one wonders why they have suddenly become fidgety over the outcome of the adhoc delegates election. An election that is determined by the generality of card carrying members across the 192 wards in Edo State. A vast majority of our party members spoke on April 30th, but Orbih and Ogbeide-Ihama are stuck in the politics of a few rules the majority! Their behavior calls their democratic credentials to question.

It is clear Orbih and Ogbeide-Ihama have an agenda that is detrimental to the growth  and development of the party and certainly other party members too. Or how else do they explain the running to the courts to shop for injunctions when they refused to even send petitions, probably because their grievances lack merit, and then avail themselves of the opportunity of presenting their grievances to the appeal panel empaneled by the National Working Committee of the party which Chief Orbih is a member. 

It is obvious Orbih is not a team player. He cannot operate in an ecosystem where his word is not Law. It’s unfortunate that he has allowed the narrative that Edo PDP was an effective opposition when he was Chairman get to his head. Edo PDP was built by many men and women who sacrificed their time, resources and privileges.  Chief Dan Orbih was just one of the many! He is acting like the appointed Managing Director of a company who after his tenure claims he owns the company! 

It is pertinent to state that Orbih and Ogbeide-Ihama keep interfering with the activities of government in a state that is controlled by the party just because they feel they want to maintain their supposed control of the party. 

The common and continual mischiefs of Chief Orbih and Hon Ogbeide-Ihama are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of wise men and women of the party to discourage and restrain them. Their actions serves always to distract the public and enfeeble the government . It agitates the community with ill-founded reasonings and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, fomenting insurrection. This fire must be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame else it will consume our beloved party! 

They thwarted the process of the local government election by sponsoring court cases to scuttle the conduct of the local council polls, which preparations had been made for by the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC). This caused the party to lose out on the opportunity of having its members participate and possibly occupy positions at the local government level as local government chairmen and councillors. This has also denied the people representation at the grassroot. 

By their actions, the duo has denied up to seven hundreds party members from participating in the political process and causing the party to lose out on the opportunity of filling critical positions in government.

It must be stressed unequivocally that two people cannot be greater than the party. That is why it is called Peoples' Democratic Party and not two peoples party. The actions of these two men have caused the party great harm by limiting the participation of party members in governance. 

With the general elections just eight months away, one wonders how these supposed leaders would work with other genuine and concerned members to lead the party to victory in the state. 

We beckon on elders of the party to call Chief Dan Orbih and Hon. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama to order and cause them to desist from their atavistic and self-serving activities. The primary election is a litmus test. The duo must do away with their recklessness and threats. 

We want a strong and united party so that we can be assured of cruising to victory in the coming general elections.


Signed

*For: Concerned Stakeholders Edo PDP*

*Victor Enoghama*

*Ighodaro Ugiagbe*