Edo PDP crisis: Edo Central opposes dissolution of State Executives, calls for reversal of Ikhimi’s suspension

The leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Esan land, Edo Central Senatorial District, Edo State, at a consultative meeting on Sunday in Benin City on the crisis rocking the state PDP, recommended the setting up of a broad-based ad hoc committee by the State Working Committee (SWC)  constituted of Seven to 10 members to immediately work out modalities for integration of new members, particularly, those that defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) with Governor Godwin Obaseki, to the PDP in 2020 and others, thereafter.

The ESAN PDP Leaders at the consultative meeting at the residence of Senator Odion Ugbesia in Benin City on Sunday, exhaustively examined the current state of the party in Esan land and Edo State. After much deliberations, participants unequivocally and unanimously adopted certain resolutions which were identified to be in the overall interest of the PDP in Edo Central Senatorial District and the State. In the resolutions, party members were prevailed upon as a matter of urgency to exercise utmost restraint when commenting on party matters most, especially, in the social and conventional media to give peace a chance

The ESAN PDP Leaders agreed that the bone of contention is how best to integrate  the new and old party members within the structure of the party from the wards to the State.

The party Leaders opposed the dissolution of the party executives in state, saying that other avenues exist for the integration  of new PDP members other than outright dissolution of the Executive Committees of the party from the Wards to the State with its attendant consequences.

“Towards this end, the party Leaders unanimously recommended that a broad based Ad Hoc Committee of Seven to ten members be constituted by the State Working Committee to immediately work out modalities for integration that will be acceptable to the contending Stakeholders,” the meeting declared.

They emphasized that the Ad Hoc Committee with very definitive terms of Reference should be mandated to liaise with both old and new members across the State and submit their recommendations to the Governor and the State Working Committee for implementation.

The Party Leaders in Esan were unanimous in their recommendation that the suspension imposed on one of their leaders, Chief Tom Ikhimi, should be revisited by the Senatorial Executive with a view to lifting the suspension. Also, the party Leaders directed the Senatorial executive to rescind the ban placed on joint meetings with the new PDP members.

The Esan Party Leaders, thereafter, passed a vote of implicit confidence on the Edo State Governor and his deputy as well the State PDP Chairman, Dr Tony Aziegbemi, and the State PDP Executive Committee. The Party Elders urged them not to relent in their efforts to provide the dividends of democracy to the good people of Edo State.

The meeting pointed out that resolutions are predicated on the need to promote inter-party harmony as a condition precedent for a conducive working relationship between the party and the executive branch.