Gov. Godwin Obaseki should take the fallout if the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) does not field a candidate in the next Edo gubernatorial election, according to Mr. Hilary Otsu, Secretary of the PDP’s Edo Chapter.
In an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday, Otsu stated that the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) ought to take some of the blame as well.
He was responding to the possibility that the party would not field a candidate for the election as a result of the crisis that surrounded the election of the ward congress.
The majority of gubernatorial candidates disapproved of the congress results, which will serve as the core group of primary voters.
Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu, the chairman of the congress’ election committee, asserted that the polls were transparent.
According to Otsu, Obaseki and the NWC had a responsibility to start a sincere process of reconciliation that would result in unification.
“I believe that everything is about politics and can be resolved as such. The earlier this (reconciliation) is done the better.
“But if it is left to fester, then we stand the unfortunate risk of not fielding a candidate.
“In this case, the governor and the NWC must be ready to take responsibility as far as Edo 2024 is concerned”, he said.
The secretary added that the current procedure for selecting the state’s party’s nominee for governor was not meeting the expectations of the state executive committee.
No one, he claimed, could be content with a process that was faulty from the beginning.
“The mere fraud of depositing the congress materials in the custody of the state governor for “safe keeping” negates the principle of fairness in the process.
“I am sure that is why nine aspirants out of ten have protested, coupled with the fact that they were excluded’’, he said.
