On Wednesday, Edo State deputy governor Philip Shaibu stormed the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), demanding to be issued a certificate of return as the “authentic winner” of the party’s gubernatorial ticket for the September election in the state.
He arrived at the Wadata Plaza, the Abuja edifice of the party, where no party official was available to receive him.
Shaibu had declared himself the winner of the parallel primary he organised, whereas Asue Ighodalo emerged as the candidate in the exercise conducted by the party machinery.
Twenty-four hours earlier, at the same venue, Ighodalo was presented with the certificate of return by the acting national chairman of the PDP, Iliya Damagun, in a ceremony witnessed by other members of the party National Working Committee (NWC), party leaders, and stakeholders from Edo State.
Shaibu has now faulted the party’s action, saying that Wednesday, February 28th, was the day set aside in the party’s primary guidelines for the presentation of the certificate of return to the flag bearer.
He said, “Today is the 28th of February, 2024. According to the PDP guidelines approved by the NWC for the Edo 2024 governorship primary, today is the day set aside by the electoral guidelines to be the day that the certificate of returns will be issued.
“So, it is not surprising that I am here today. I am here to receive my certificate of return because I won the primary in Edo and the authentic delegates voted.
“If you look at the halls of the party office here, you will see the names of all the delegates that voted for me. Today is the presentation of the Certificate of Return, according to the party. So, PDP must follow its rules and guidelines; this is what we are talking about.
“The process of producing a candidate has been compromised from the onset, and we ask that those things be corrected. Even the committee that recommended a political solution is fully aware that there were abnormalities in the process that led to my emergence, and whoever.
“But the reason I am here is to obey the guidelines to come and receive the certificate of return, and I was told that somebody else came here yesterday and was given the certificate.
“I think the court will tell among us who is the real candidate, but I am here in fulfilment of the electoral guidelines of the PDP to receive my certificate.”
Expressing readiness to explore the internal mechanism of the party to rectify what he observed as the abnormalities arising from the governorship primary election, the deputy governor alleged that party agents who conducted the exercise leading to his emergence as the candidate are now intimidated.
He added, “Those who conducted the primaries and wrote this report are being threatened. They tried to procure them, and many of them refused. Now they are being threatened to write another report.
“This is a committee that was put together by the NWC. If the PDP is serious and ready to win Edo State, they must do what is right. And I am telling our members in Edo not to be worried; we will get to the promised land. Edo will be the place where we will reset how internal democracy can be strengthened so that the foundation of democracy is not destroyed.
“I told them that I was coming, but none of them have come to work. Only the staff of the secretariat are here. I don’t know why they are not here. That is strange, and that is in line with why they will be in a hurry to give the certificate yesterday when today was what was approved for the certificate to be given to the winner.
“I must be on the side of the people, strengthening the foundation of our democracy, which is party politics.”
Shaibu vowed that if the laid-down rules are not followed by the party, he will have no option but to drag them before the court for legal interpretation.
He explained: “When the party’s internal mechanisms are not being followed and it is obvious that the party is not ready to listen, the next line of action will obviously be the judiciary. But I pray we don’t get there, and that is why I came here today.
“I am sure that in the coming days, the acting national chairman and others will adhere to what brought me here today, and when they do so, there will be no need to go to court.
“But if they don’t do what is needful, needful in the sense that I won the primary with the authentic delegates, the certificate should be returned to me; if that is not done, we will not have any choice but to seek interpretation by the court.”
He observed that while the acting party boss may be talking of reconciliation, the powers that be in Edo State are threatening him with impeachment.
“Maybe the acting chairman was very honourable and meant what he was saying. But other people talking about reconciliation don’t really mean what they are saying; they are intimidating and harassing us.
“As I speak, they are even threatening to impeach, and that is their own way of dealing with people; they suspend, sack people, make phone calls, intimidate people, and tell people they will come after you.
“During the military, these are the kinds of threats that we were getting, and we cannot return to the era of intimidation and harassment, and that is the issue in Edo State.
“Some of us have the energy and the strong will to fight against oppression, and we have displayed it in many forms: that we hate oppression; we will always align with those that are civil; we have empathy. If you don’t have these, you don’t have a place in democracy.”
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