A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has elected Nosa Ogieva as its new state chairman.
The factional executive emerged at a congress held in Benin City, the Edo State capital, with 576 delegates from the state’s 192 wards participating in the exercise.
The development comes a week after another PDP faction in the state held its own congress and re-elected Tony Aziegbemi as chairman.
Addressing delegates at the Wike-backed congress, the PDP South South Vice Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, blamed former Governor Godwin Obaseki for the party’s dwindling fortunes in the state.
Orbih said the PDP’s poor performance in recent by-elections reflected its declining popularity under Obaseki’s leadership.
He urged party members to elect capable individuals who could revive the PDP in Edo State, while dismissing critics who had advised members not to attend the congress.
‘Just yesterday, I saw a statement from some funny characters advising party members not to attend this event. Are you not here?’ Orbih asked. ‘Those who have no moral authority to speak on behalf of the party should keep their mouths shut.’
‘As we prepare to elect our executive, I will appeal to you to vote for those with the capacity to lead this party, not those who will sell out, not those who will deny members their legitimate right
‘As members of our great party. There is no doubt that PDP is going through a leadership crisis, both at the national level and in several other states.
‘Let us not deceive ourselves. For the first time in the history of our great party, we have elected governors of PDP and founding leaders, founding members of this party, leaving this party every day for one simple reason: failure of leadership.
‘Elected governors are leaving. Elected senators are leaving. Elected members of the House are leaving. In Edo state, we know the root of our problem. We had a united party where everybody related with one another as brothers and sisters, until Godwin Obaseki joined our party.
‘Obaseki destroyed our party. He sowed the seeds of discord, deep-rooted seeds of discord in our party. He sinned against the party. He sinned against the people. He sinned against the state.
‘Obaseki came into the party and destroyed everything good in the party. Today, our party’s umbrella is shattered, torn, and we are here today to rebuild the party.
‘What used to put us together as a family was destroyed by Obaseki. He fought every person except himself, and in the end, we are at a very disadvantaged position in the politics of Edo state.’
The new factional chairman promised to reunite the party, saying the PDP would soon begin to win elections again in the state.