The unending crisis rocking the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sprouted a new shoot on Friday as a section of the leaders of the party asked the state chairman, Dr Tony Aziegbemi, to resign over an alleged partisan position.
The new crisis is coming barely 24 hours after the party released its Edo State 2024 governorship election timetable.
Aziegbemi’s sin, the leaders alleged, was his comments in a viral video, where the state party chairman was said to have acted in a way that suggested that he was pledging his support for an Edo Central candidate for the party.
The leaders claimed that Aziegbemi’s action was similar to that of the former National Chairman of the party, Dr Iyorcha Ayu, who openly commended the former governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, for stepping down for the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on the eve of the presidential primaries of the party.
In the contentious video, Aziegbemi was seen telling a gathering of people believed to be PDP faithful, “It is now time to keep our eyes on the ball. From now henceforth, it is for all of us to queue behind the governor so that we can make that right choice, and PDP should remain in Osadebey Avenue and make sure that that person, that man or woman is one of our own, is of Esan extraction.”
Reacting to this on behalf of the party leaders in Oredo Local Government Area, Mr Martins Osakue said, “It just proved what I said last week that Aziegbemi is a landlord that has abdicated his position.
“I know that even before the election of Obaseki, Aziegbemi already had his own agenda to impeach those who brought him into office, and this is what we have seen.
“The tendency is that you blame the governor for everything, but if Aziegbemi has stood like a chairman and stood for everybody, will this crisis escalate to this level? Our position, those of us in Oredo, is that we want a free and fair exercise.
“But the chairman has said that the thing must go to a particular place. He has compromised his position, so we say he should resign honourably.
“In the absence of that, the NWC should deal with the deputy chairman; that is why you have the Deputy Chairman. This is what happened in the National Secretary’s case, so we appeal to the NWC to do the needful. If Aziegbemi refuses to recuse himself from the exercise, they should remove him from the scene; he should just be an onlooker,” Osakue canvassed.
Reacting to the call, Aziegbemi said that it was within the democratic right of any member to ventilate his views on party matters.
“That is democracy in action. I was talking about wishing the next governor would come from Edo Central. The delegates will determine where the candidate will ultimately come from. My personal wish is premised on the spirit of the Edo in us: fairness, equity, and justice,” Aziegbemi reiterated.
