Peter Igbinigie Esq
By Kingsley Abavo
Yet again, barely a week the opposition: All Progressives Congress (APC) tackled the ruling Governor Godwin Obaseki led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State for failing to secure life and property of the people and make life comfortable for them, the Party speaking through its Publicity Secretary, Prince Peter Enoseregbe Uwadiae Igbinigie has in a more biting tone; lashed the Governor and his Party for sundry issues confronting the State, her people; and are urgently begging for attention. Addressing Journalists in Benin on Tuesday, 15 March, 2022, he spits fire! Governor Obaseki and his Party: PDP are serial liars and betrayals; he submitted!
Insecurity
I read with dismay, the very uncoordinated and puerile reaction of the PDP scribe: Dr. Ojebuobor to our very articulated issues relating to governance in Edo State. And I was very worried that PDP could have such a mediocre as their new acting scribe.
Permit me to say; it is a true reflection of what is PDP in Edo as today because for such a man to be speaking on behalf of the Party, it therefore means that the Party has deteriorated to that lowest ebb of inreconciliable level of propensity. I sympathize with the Party because in my days in the Party, I never had the opportunity of coming across that face who is now their scribe. It goes to show that no good person is in the Party anymore.
Again, those who are good in the Party, because of the obvious ineptitude behavior of the State Governor, they are not given the opportunity to serve. It is rather saddening and want to say all that he said; the scribe is putting all the issues raised as they are in Edo, upside down; he misinformed the people, he represents the co – travellers of the Governor who never meant well for the State.
First and foremost, he painted a picture which indicates that insecurity has been tackled successfully in Edo whereas, what we experience on ground is very worrisome. Few days ago about seven innocent persons: young vibrant men were killed in Obayantor and the operation lasted for over three hours without any security operative coming to save the situation.
Also, I heard of Umogunokhua issue where women numbering about seven were raped in the bush by herders and some persons claim there is security in Edo State yet no suspect has been arrested. We heard of the kidnapping on the Benin – Ore highway which lasted over three hours without any security operative coming to the rescue of the defenseless travellers.
So, where is the security apparatus we talk about in Edo that the Publicity Secretary of the PDP will be singing the praise of the Governor? It is an aberration hence I dare say that such a person should not be allowed to speak because the PDP as today, is the Party of the Government in power; whatever they say represents the voice of the Government in Edo.
If they begin to misinform the people and create an environment that looks safe as against the practical reality that is on ground, it therefore means that Obaseki and his Government are out to further destroy Edo and impoverish the people that according to him gave him the mandate to represent them; and what is the core mandate? It is to defend and protect the lives and property of the people.
But today, Edo State is a far cry of that irrespective of what anyone thinks about it. Today Edo State is the worst secured in the South – South; we hear of how people who commits crime are arrested and prosecuted in other States but in Edo criminals and criminality go unhindered.
So Edo people are living with their eyes opened, not too sure of what will happen in the next minute. Hence APC as a Party is disenchanted, is disillusioned with the attitude of the Governor and his co-travellers,
we can’t continue to live like this! And that was why the last time I spoke with the press, I challenged the Governor to account for the N750m monthly security votes that he collects from Abuja because if he receives such humongous amount and it is not reflecting in the security situation in the State, then one wonders where that money is being channeled to, if not private pockets.
So, the man who defended what is defenseless, is an epitome of the Governor’s non chalant attitude towards the life and property of the Edo people who he has been given the mandate to represent.
Absence of impactful infrastructure in Edo
He also talked about infrastructure; I am saddened in my heart and the APC is worried that we do not see the infrastructure which he (Ojebuobor) is talking about. The already existing ones have been destroyed, there is non to replace them; the State library, Central Hospital have all been demolished. He talked about the newly inaugurated central park, but the economic value of these infrastructure that have been destroyed when compared in relation to the central park, it therefore becomes a monumental misplacement of priority for the Obaseki’s led PDP administration to concentrate on a central park as against the education of the citizenry of the State; underlines the fact that the Governor lacks the capacity to prioritize the needs and issues as they are in Edo.
Again, when the APC was telling the world that the Governor is a serial liar, and betrayal, nobody believed us; that the reason he was shown the exit door because he failed to keep his promises to Edo people in his first tenure, nobody believed us instead, he engaged in an unending war with his benefactor who showed him the way.
Exposition of Governor Obaseki’s true character
Prior to Governor Obaseki’s coming in 2008, nobody knew him in Edo; he was one worker with Dangote in Lagos. It was Oshiomhole who recruited him to Benin to be Chairman of his economic team for eight years and that was where he got all the money and the little knowledge he thought he has inspite of the discrepancies in his educational pursuit; an issue for another day.
Even our Royal Majesty questioned his credibility as the man to lead Edo State but Adams Oshiomhole in his wisdom and magnanimity said it must be Obaseki.
Now, no matter what it is; a man that bit the finger that fed him, all that he did in the secret are beginning to be seen in the open. Now the man who engineered, lubricated and powered his own campaign, that did all that they did within the PDP fold to ensure he won the election is now confessing: Governor Nyesome Wike; that he never knew, that the only thing he would have done in his life, the only thing today that he regrets since his birth is ever accepting Obaseki and his co – travellers because Oshiomhole warned him then, that the two replicate of Obaseki is that he is a serial betrayal and an ingrate but he never listened.
Yesterday (Monday), I was taken aback when I heard the outburst from Governor Wike to the extent that he opened the Pandora box to say that Obaseki is a serial betrayal and an ingratitude.
So, I want to say that Edo State has been plunged into a monumental problem by a man who is a serial betrayal, and a man who does not know how to prioritize issues that borders on the well-being of Edo people.
Health condition of APC
And APC today as a Party is fundamentally built on tenets of democracy: there is no in – house fighting, we are coordinated, we are prepared and we have our standard executive in place without any rancour. Democracy will only be well founded when there is internal Party democracy. Today the only Party that enjoys internal democracy is APC in Edo. We have the history of successful Congress from the Ward, Local Government Council, and to State level and today all the departments that would make a resounding political Party in a very strong footing have been done in APC.
APC witnessing downfall of PDP in Edo
And I can assure you that if we are to go into any election with the PDP today, they will not win a single ward because you are going to have one section for the Governor, and another section for the Dan Orbih led Exco and to be very honest with you, if the Governor is not a serial betrayal he would have known that the Constitution of the PDP does not allow for harmonization.
I was the legal adviser to that Party for many years; from the first word to the last word of its Constitution, there was no where it was mentioned that there would be harmonization. Granted that the Governor of a State is the Chief Executive and leader of that political Party, it does not embrace once a Governor comes; he must destroy an existing Exco which has been given a statutory flavor. Once an Exco is elected, it must run its full circle unless; the exception are clearly stated.
Maybe if a member dies or incapacitated by reason of ill health, or if a member leaves the Party and goes to another Party. These are the only conditions that would make another person to take over from a man who has been duly elected.
What the Governor wants to do in the PDP, was what he did in the APC which made him unwanted in the Party because he is a man who does not understand the tenets of democracy and even if he understands, he is not ready to put them to practice and this is not a military era, we are not in oligarchy. This is democracy in which all issues are governed by law; the Constitution of the Party, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
as amended in 1999 and the electoral Act; these are the instruments that regulates how political parties, governance, and elections are run.
But for a man who is the Chief Executive who is supposed to know that this is the way to go, but decides to do the wrong thing, is not only deliberately pulling the PDP to its precipice, but is trying to denigrate the aura of the Party and such a man should be treated like a leper and that is what Wike is doing to him now and it is not a surprise to us as a Party; the APC. We knew that a day like this will come when the whole world will know what that man he represents is betrayal because one would have expected that from nowhere, Oshiomhole made you a Governor and the same Oshiomhole was the first person he started fighting; so how can such a person know what governance is all about?
So today, we want to put on record that APC as a Party is seeing the down fall of the PDP in Edo because we said it in 2020 that the movement of Obaseki into the PDP; was the last straw that would make that Party go into extinction in the State and that is happening now.
Local Government Councils Election
Then again, I heard few days ago that the Governor was telling the world in a forum that he is ready to conduct the Local Government Councils election in 2022 and I was shocked to the marrow of my bones because the fundamentals of conducting a Local Government Councils election are not there.
First and foremost, the new electoral Act has made it that Local Government Councils election is no longer tea party; it is now a very serious business that has to do with logistics and all it takes to conduct a free and fair election. People of different States are now willing, prepared to participate in the Local Government Councils election.
First and foremost; to conduct a credible Local Government Council election, the money required must be contained in the yearly budget and be voted for.
I urge Edo people to take a copy of the Edo State 2022 fiscal budget and read from the first word to the last to see if there is anywhere the Local Government Councils election was budgeted for. The tax payers money cannot be spent without same been budgeted for. So if the Governor is thinking of spending our money without same been budgeted for, Edo people will ask him questions and that would be tantamount to unconstitutional conduct of a Governor, because the Constitution provides that every kobo of the State must be budgeted for and the Obaseki’s administration has not budgeted for the planned Local Government Councils election.
Again, today is 15th of March; it therefore means that year 2022 is running fast whereas, there is no iota of logistics that has been put in place by the State Government towards conducting a free and fair Local Government Councils election. The EDSIEC is not been funded, no activity is going on there to suggest that election will be conducted this year. Let me make an example; today the INEC time table for election that is going to be conducted in 2023 is already out, all the political parties have been notified as to the activities required towards a free and fair election.
But here we see a Governor, in the comfort of his bedroom telling the people I will conduct Local Government Councils election. You can’t write results again in your bedroom like they used to do.
APC as a Party is willing and ready, prepared to match the PDP and we want to start showing it from the Local Government Councils election. And if it is not going to happen this year, any time the Government of the day is ready to conduct the Local Government Councils election, I can assure you that we will field our best eleven and they will capture the desired results for us; we have the capacity, we have the men that have the wherewithal to win election in Edo and the mirror of looking at a Party that is serious about winning election; is there now on the part of the APC and not the PDP.
Dilemma of Obaseki, co – travellers
The Governor is crying, his Deputy is tired, and their followers are tired of a party you ran to less than two years ago; to be able to remain relevant in the State when of course, you know your relevance is dwindling based on the assessment of the people; you are now tired of that party? Where do you want to go? We are waiting for them. Anyone of them that would want to come back to the APC, we will give condition for your acceptance; if you meet the conditions, and you are telling us that you will purge yourself of your ingratitude; we don’t want to see people who will be categorized as deputy Governor who is wearing khaki; we don’t want to see a deputy Governor who will be asked: ‘who is your father?’ These are not the kind of people we want, we are okay the way we are. But as a political party, we will always welcome anybody who is willing, prepared to work in line, harmony with the ideals our Party represents.
What APC represents
The APC as a Party in Edo represents peace, love, inclusiveness, togetherness and a journey that is anchored on democratic practices and conditionalities.That is who we are; we are dependent on the law, and we work within the ambience of the law and that is what we want to replicate in Edo and we replicate at the Federal.
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