7th January, 2020
By Jethro Ibileke
Ahead of the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s delegate congresses scheduled for the month of March, the leadership of the party on Tuesday held a marathon meeting to fine-tune arrangements for a hitch-free outing.
The meeting which held in Benin city, at the residence of the state chairman of the party, Chief Dan Orbih, was attended by 10 leaders from each of the senatorial district.
Four governorship aspirants, Kenneth Imasuangbon, Engr. Gideon Ikhine, Ifaluyi Isibor and Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama were present at the meeting.
Media guru, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, was also in attendance.
Sources at the meeting had it that the leader of the party in the state, Chief Lucky Igbinedion’s move to ensure that the party picked the chairmanship position from Owan axis, was kicked against by some leaders who argued that the outgoing Chairman hails from the same Edo North.
Two person in the race to replace Chief Orbih are Engr. Fred Okah (Edo South) and Senator Odion Ugbesia (Edo Central).
It was observed that some chieftains of the party wore long faces as they left the meeting, an indication that the resolution did not favour them or their favourite aspirants.
The State Chairman of the party, Orbih, who spoke with journalists at the end of the meeting, however described its outcome as wonderful.
He said: “We reinstated our resolve to win back Edo State. We expressed our disappointment with what is going on in the state. We no longer have 24 members in the Edo State House of Assembly. What we have are only 10 members.
“I believe PDP will reclaim the 14 seats in the State Assembly and that will put us in the majority at the Assembly. We have talked on a lot of issues and at the end of the meeting, all leaders and members were satisfied, we have put in place a comprehensive plan to win back Edo State.
“In a political party, people have interest but all I must say is that we will conduct Congress that will throw up a new leadership of the party. We will have an executive that we will be proud of and continue where I will stop. All our leaders are happy.”