By Bisi Olaniyi, Benin; Jide Orintunsin; Gbade Ogunwale and Sanni Onogu, Abuja
- Governor’s exit is insignificant, says APC
- Party’s three other aspirants absent at event
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State made his formal entry into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday in Benin with a vow to sweep the polls in the September election after getting his new party’s ticket on Thursday for the primary election.
The PDP immediately granted him a waiver to contest the primary which had to be shifted from Tuesday by two days to accommodate the governor’s entry.
Obaseki’s deputy also switched camp yesterday
For choosing their party, they were congratulated by PDP bigwigs like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, party Chairman Uche Secondus, immediate past Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy Ike Ekweremadu.
Obaseki’s rivals for the party’s ticket – Kenneth Imasuagbon, Gideon Ikhine and Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama- were conspicuously absent at the ceremony to welcome the governor.
His former party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissed his exit as insignificant.
Obaseki, who arrived at the PDP Secretariat, Benin, at exactly 2.15 pm and was accompanied by his supporters, was received by the PDP Chairman in Edo, Dr Tony Aziegbemi.
The governor commended the PDP leadership in the state for its principles which he said attracted him to the party.
He said : “I am here this afternoon to inform you that upon my resignation from the APC, I have now decided, having consulted very widely within the state and across the country, to become a member of the PDP.
“The PDP, in my view, has demonstrated and shown that it is a party that is rooted in democratic practices; a party that believes in justice and fairness; a party that respects its people.
“Today (yesterday) is not a day that I will make the speech. You will hear from me soon.
“Today (yesterday), I am here to go through the formalities of registering as a member of this great party.
“I know and understand full well the implications of these decisions.
“I know that upon taking up membership of this party, I automatically become the leader of the party in the state. That is the constitution; I read it thoroughly last night (Thursday).
“I want to assure all of you that I am prepared to provide leadership. I am prepared to provide a leadership that will lead this party to victory and I am prepared to provide a leadership that will not only put PDP in office in Edo State but as the ruling party in Edo State.
“We will make sure that the level of progress, the level of hope and the level of participation in the political system by our party is unrivalled in this country.
“I am very happy to be here. The reception I have received since I drove in here has been ecstatic. The energy I see in this party is the kind of energy I require to take Edo to the level we should go next.
“So, if indeed we have done anything in the last four years, you have not seen anything yet, because with the quality of people I see here, the energy of the youths I see, by the grace of God, victory will be possible.
“I am committing to you that I will not only lead this party to victory in Edo State, we will now make sure that this party establishes an example of how states will be run in Africa.
“So, today, it is with great pleasure that I have come to formally take up my membership of this great party.”
Welcoming him, Aziegbemi assured the governor that members of the party would accord him good quality and harmonious working relationship.
He also promised that as the party chairman in the state, he would provide the governor every support and encouragement he would need to succeed as the new leader of the party.
He also pledged to mobilise others to rally round the governor in his new task of repositioning the state for the good of all.
Speaking to reporters after obtaining his own PDP card, Deputy Governor Shaibu said: “I have a mixed feeling with this action. First, one struggled to form a party and after forming that party, those that benefitted from the party took over the party and became tyrants.
“It is not always easy that after one helped to form and nurture a party, one individual would say he is an Adolf Hitler in the system and becomes undemocratic. That was what happened in the APC.”
Shaibu expressed his unalloyed loyalty to Edo people, noting that their calls for the governor and his team to join the PDP has been heard.
Obaseki’s entry an act of God, says Secondus
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus described the entry of Obaseki into the main opposition party an act of God.
Asking the governor to be guided while in the PDP, Secondus said Obaseki would soon realise that he did not make a mistake by joining the party.
In a statement issued in Abuja by his media adviser, Ike Abonyi, the party chairman was also quoted to have described the PDP as a party of responsible people who respect and appreciate intellect and work by the rules and constitution of the party.
“There is nothing to be arrogant about power for anyone who knows God and here in PDP, we are guided by this fact.”
He announced a waiver for Obaseki to seek the party’s governorship ticket, saying the application for the waiver came from his ward in Edo State and was recommended and endorsed by the various organs of the party in the state.
By virtue of the waiver, Obaseki can vote and seek election on the platform of the PDP.
The gesture was also extended to his deputy, Philip Shuaibu, who also defected with the governor.
Former Vice President Atiku, the immediate past Senate President Bukola Saraki and former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu in separate messages expressed joy at Obaseki’s defection.
Atiku described Obaseki as an asset to the PDP while Saraki said the governor took a good step in the right direction.
Ekweremadu said the defection was a “new dawn” for the people of the state.
Obaseki’s defection to PDP of no significance – APC
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) however dismissed the defection of the governor to opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as being of no significance.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, in a brief telephone interview in Abuja, said the move of Obaseki to the PDP was never a surprise to the party.
“It has not come to us as a surprise. We knew he had defected long ago because he resigned his membership of the party which we have accepted. So you can’t defect twice.
“So if he is defecting again, we don’t know whether what he has just done now is news any longer,” Issa-Onilu said.
Earlier in the week, Obaseki resigned from APC. He was disqualified from the June 22 party governorship primary by the screening and appeal committees set up by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
PDP grants him waiver
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) granted waiver to Governor Obaseki to contest the Edo governorship election primary and rescheduled its Edo state governorship primary to Thursday June 25, 2020.
The PDP said the shift in date was predicated on exigencies of party activities.
The party hinged its decision on the waiver on Section 29(2)(b) of the PDP constitution and in exercise of the powers of the National Executive Committee (NEC) under Section (50)(3)(b) of the PDP constitution.
Spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the NWC had ratified the application for waiver by the ward, local government and state executives of the party in Edo State.
Accordingly, it granted waiver to Obaseki, to enable him contest the gubernatorial primary of the PDP.
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