Governor Seyi Makinde has rejected his appointment as the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Edo State 3-man ad-hoc ward congress electoral committee, accentuating the lingering schism between his group and the hierarchy of the party.
The governor is a prominent member of the Nyesom Wike-led G5 opposed to the national leadership of the party and its presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar.
Though the differences between the G5 and the party leadership had simmered with the exit from office of many of the governors who made up the group, occasional bursts of mutual ill-feelings have continued to occur.
Makinde, in a letter dated February 2, 2024, addressed to the PDP National Working Committee (NWC), which was obtained by the Nigerian Tribune, said he was turning down his appointment as the electoral committee chairman because of the short notice given to him.
He said the short notice afforded him no time to properly assess the actions taken by the PDP Directorate of Organization while the date of the exercise coincided with his prior engagements.
However, beyond that, he queried the composition of the list of Electoral Officers (EOs), which he observed, contained people from outside the state and its government.
He specifically pointed out that the name of the current Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly appeared on the list as leading the team of EOs in his own local government area.
He protested that this was against the principles of equity, fairness and justice for all aspirants.
Makinde referenced the petition written by gubernatorial aspirants under the PDP in the forthcoming poll in Edo state alleging that the primary election process had already been skewed.
The Oyo governor reiterated that the former ruling party is known for transparent primaries including presidential primaries, noting that the party should apply it as the benchmark to conduct of elections and associated activities.
While declining his appointment, Makinde, however, reaffirmed his commitment to the main opposition party.
His letter to the NWC titled “Re: 2024 Gubernatorial Primary Elections: Edo State 3 Ad-hoc Ward Congresses Electoral Committee,” reads: “Let me begin by first thanking the National Working Committee (NWC) of our great Party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for nominating me to serve as Chairman of this very crucial and sensitive committee.
“However, given that I was notified of my appointment as the Chairman of this very important committee on Friday, 2 February 2024 for a congress scheduled for 3-4 February 2024, I regret to inform the NWC that I will be declining this appointment as I have prior State engagements for these dates.
“The late notification also means that I could not properly review any actions taken by the Directorate of Organisation before my appointment.
“Nevertheless, due to the fact that my appointment as Chairman was publicised, I have become privy to information that indicates irregularities with the process as follows:
“List of Appointed Electoral Officers:
“I observed that the current list of Electoral Officers (EOs) contains people from Delta State and some Edo State Government officials.
“To buttress this point, the current Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly is leading the team of EOs in his own Local Government Area – This is against the principles of equity, fairness and justice for all aspirants.
“As the NWC is aware, the use of EOs for the conduct of congresses was designed to ensure transparency and accountability and this will be impossible to achieve with the current list.
“Petitions from Aspirants: “Hours after it was publicised that I had been appointed the Chairman, I received petitions from gubernatorial aspirants in the State alleging that the process would not be fair.
“I have attached the petitions to this letter.
“Our great party is known for conducting very transparent primaries, including presidential primaries. This, in my opinion, should be the benchmark for the NWC’s conduct of elections and associated activities across the board.
“Thank you once again for the trust reposed in me. Let me reiterate my commitment to our great party, the PDP and the tenets our party stands for.
“Please accept the assurances of my warmest regards.”
It was also copied to chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Adolphus Wabara and the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed.
Following the rejection of the appointment, the PDP NWC announced the Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, as his replacement for the exercise.
Despite protest in some quarters including nine of its aspirants, the PDP on Sunday conducted its delegates’ election in Edo State ahead of the February 22 PDP governorship primaries in the state.
The election produced 576 delegates who are expected to nominate the party’s standard-bearer for the Edo guber election.
Speaking to journalists at George Idahosa Primary School in Benin City, the Edo State Capital, Governor Mbah commended the large turnout of PDP members, describing the exercise as free, fair, credible and transparent.
He said: “This is democracy where our people come to exercise their franchise, we appreciate this turnout, our party is known for its principles which are fairness, equity and justice. I wish you to all conduct yourselves properly as we hold this election.”
In Ward 7 at Ugbekun Primary School in Ikpoba-Okha local government, Dr. Major Itemowe led others to conduct the exercise while in Oluku Ward, Honourable Kunle Koya from Lagos State conducted the exercise.
Speaking at Ward 4 Collation Centre, Idia College, the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, said the crisis in the party was being overhyped and that it would not affect the outcome of the governorship election.
“You can see from the crowd here that it is a lot of success, a huge turnout, we had over 600 people coming out to participate here.
“Our people are very politically aware and we are happy with this turnout to elect delegates for a our gubernatorial primary and we are also expecting this huge turnout in the main election.”
Speaking on the non-participation of members of the Legacy Coalition of the PDP, the governor said “You cannot have a hundred percent, clearly you can see the crowd here. When we were in APC before we joined the PDP, we didn’t have these numbers so clearly the people we met in the party are still in the party.
“The crisis is hyped, it is not as fundamental as it is made to look on ground, there is very little crisis, the crisis is fanned from outside and our people are smarter than that. You will see during the main election, we are not going to allow ourselves to be sold.”
However, nine other aspirants, in their letters to the Acting National Chairman and copied to the National Vice Chairman South-South of the party, Chief Dan Orbih, protested the process and composition of those to conduct the delegates election.
The petition was signed by Rt. Honourable Philip Shaibu, Rt Honourable Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, Anselm U. Ojezua, Honourable Felix Akhabue, Mr Martin Uhomoibhi, Hafia Hadizat Umoru, Honourable Omosede Igbinedion, Dr Earl Osaro Onaiwu and Arthur Esene.
