By Cosmas Omegoh, Lagos
The Edo PDP Group has condemned the recent appointment into Board of Trustees (BoT) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) members from Edo State, describing the move as gross injustice totally against the spirit of fair play.
In a statement signed by its coordinator, Comrade Paul O. Kingsley, the group with members across the 18 local government areas of the state bemoaned the lopsided appointment and called on all well-meaning members of the party to intervene and allow space for fair play, justice and equity.
‘Recall that the tenure of PDP BoT members expired on September 6, 2021, but while the governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, who is the leader of the party in the state, approved the same members who had represented the state on the board since 2018, Chief Tom Ikimi and Chief Mike Ogiadomhen to go for a second term of another three years, we were duly informed that Chief Dan Orbih, the party’s vice chairman South-South, ensured that the name of Chief Ikimi was removed and replaced with Chief Raymond Dokpesi.
‘It will interest you to know that Chief Orbih, Ogiadomhen and Dokpesi are all from one section of the state, Etsako.
‘Even as we congratulate those who have been elevated to the PDP BoT, we must not shy away from the fact that the elevation is not only lopsided, it has defeated the ideals of a united Edo State that ought to be rooted in equity, justice and fair play.
‘The composition of the BoT coming from Edo State is one-sided as members are basically from the Etsako region.
‘This does not conform to the format of using the Federal Character in all appointments in our heterogeneous state. We would have expected an even spread to ensure loyalty thereby ensuring that there is no predominance of persons from a particular senatorial district or from a particular ethnic group.
‘The question we are asking and begging for answer is: if Chief Tom Ikimi must be removed, why not replace him with another member of the party from Edo Central where we have always won all our elections since 1999?
‘Meanwhile, we already have all the party members from Edo State at the national from the same Etsako, which is an axis in Edo North zone of the state, where the PDP has never won any elections since the last 14 years.
‘We call on the national leader of the party, Senator Dr Bukola Saraki, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Senator David Mark, Governor Godwin Obaseki, our leader in Edo State, PDP Governors Forum, led by Governor Aminu Tambuwal, PDP caucus in the National Assembly led by Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe and Rt Hon Ndidi Elumelu urgently address this injustice to avoid the crisis that would arise from the only zone that has consistently given the party to 100% in all elections since 1999.’