Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki
Ahead of the September 21 gubernatorial election in Edo State, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Friday, inaugurated a 363-member campaign council, with Governor Goodwin Obaseki describing the Legacy Group as disorganised.
The Legacy group, headed by the party vice chairman, South-South, Dan Orbih, had vowed not to work with Obaseki and the party’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo, unless their grievances were looked into.
The group stated that they are been treated unfairly by Obaseki despite aiding his move to PDP in 2020 and ensuring that he won the second term
Orbih also has the impeached deputy governor, Philip Shaibu and Kabiru Adjoto, a strong strong ally of Obaseki until recently in his group.
Despite this, Obaseki noted that the PDP has the best candidates and programmes for the people of Edo. The governor, who alleged that the factional PDP members fighting in the party have collected money from opposition parties to destabilise the PDP in the state, warned such persons to stay away or face his wrath.
He said, “The timetable is out, can you see any of them (Legacy Group)? Can they organise themselves? PDP leads, others follow.”
“PDP is one. Those who are fighting the PDP have collected money from the other parties, and they want to sell out. Join me so that we can flush them out of our party. Because we are not going to allow anybody to divide us, we are one party; one indivisible party in Edo State.
“The money they have collected is enough, let them go and enjoy it. Let them go and spend it outside. We don’t have anything to be afraid of. I will fight them if they try us; we will fight them if they try us. They know us, we never fight and lose, let them come and try. They should not disturb us, because this election is ours and we are going to win by the grace of God.”
Obaseki, who declared that the opposition has no space in Edo, boasted that the PDP has put together hardworking campaign council members who, according to him, were going to deliver 80 per cent of the total votes to the party.
“By the grace of God, this campaign council will deliver nothing less than 80 per cent of votes.
“APC have no place here. They cannot destroy us at the centre and want to still come and destroy us here. We will not allow it. The hunger is too much out there, we are preventing the hunger from coming to Edo.
“Everybody sees what is happening in Nigeria today. You can see the suffering in the land. You can see the struggle in Edo, but we pulled Edo out of those problems. So, our campaign is going to be based on the hope we will give our citizens in Edo State.”
He noted that the structure of the campaign council was rooted in all the 192 wards across the state, adding that every organ of the party was captured.
Earlier, the State Chairman of the PDP, Dr Tony Aziegbemi, disclosed that the campaign council consisted of 363 members, excluding the women and youth wings.
In his acceptance speech, the Director-General of the state campaign council, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, thanked the governor and PDP faithful for the opportunity to serve the party.
Iduoriyekemwen, however, promised to lead the party to victory come September.
In his remarks, the PDP governorship candidate, Barr. Asue Ighodalo, who thanked party faithful and leaders for the confidence reposed in him, said Obaseki had laid a functional foundation in every sector that he would build upon.