The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu has accused the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of causing friction in the state chapter of the party.
He said the challenges rocking the Edo PDP is why some of those who joined Governor Godwin Obaseki in dumping the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the PDP in 2020 are considering leaving the party again.
Shaibu however said despite the obvious challenges, he would remain with the PDP.
But the Edo Deputy Governor called on the party’s national leaders to integrate the aggrieved supporters who dumped APC for the PDP into the umbrella party, saying the state chapter has done the needful but the national is yet to comply.
Bibian Anekwe News understands Shaibu made the submissions on Monday during an interview with Channels Television where he spoke on the challenges facing the Edo State chapter of the PDP.
“For me, Philip Shaibu, I have no plans to leave. For Philip Shaibu, his followers, and the followers of Obaseki that left APC to PDP, they plan to leave PDP but to where? For now, I don’t know,” he said.
“Why? Because we felt we are not accepted in PDP and that is the reason we are actually thinking that it is time to just draw the curtains and leave.
“We left APC because of the oppression by APC national chairman meted on the governor. And for some of us that hated oppression, we decided to jettison our relationship with the godfather then to follow the governor to the PDP.
“We have not been accepted into PDP and for us, we are not telling the governor it is either now or we leave.
We are in PDP now and expected that we will be integrated. When I say ‘we’, not just Philip Shaibu, I’m talking about Anselm Ojezua (former Edo APC chairman) and the state working committee, the ward chairmen and the executives, the leaders of APC then and all the well-wishers that left APC because of Obaseki.
“We have been meeting and we have said we need to be integrated. Anselm Ojezua resigned his membership of chairman of the state; the ward chairmen resigned; other executives resigned to join PDP.
“As I speak, they have not been integrated and we are talking about harmonization; they have refused to harmonize. For some of us, that means we are not welcome in PDP.
“We are not saying dismantle, drive everybody and accept us. We are saying create room for Anselm Ojezua and create room for x. Just like we have done in the appointment in government — we’ve created space for the old PDP that we met. They are commissioners.”
When the Deputy Governor was asked to identify those responsible for the crisis in Edo PDP, he laid the blame at the feet of the party’s national leadership.
“If I want to mention names I will say the national. At the state level, we have harmonized. We have a harmonized list as we speak at the state — old PDD and the new PDP,” he said.
“That list needs to be ratified by the national and the national has not ratified that list and elections are coming. We need the national to come and resolve these issues and they have been moving the goalpost from one end to another.
“The problem is from the national. I will not want to blame it on the national chairman but I will also blame him because the issues are before him. Since he took over leadership, he has not deemed it fit to call for a meeting to resolve the Edo crisis.”
Bibian Anekwe News
