By DADA AYOKHAI
Gradually, the rug is being pulled off the feet of the Edo State deputy governor, Hon. Philip Shaibu, as his kinsmen have disowned him and, instead, has adopted the latest entrant into the Edo guber race, Dr. Asue Ighodalo as their preferred candidate
Rising from an enlarged PDP Edo North leaders and Elders caucus meeting, held at the country home of Chief Mike Oghiadomhe in Fugar, Etsako Central, the PDP leaders agreed to adopt Aseu Ighodalo while jettisoning their son, Hon. Shaibu, in the lurch
With this endorsement, the chances of Dr. Asue Ighodalo emerging as the Edo State PDP flag bearer in the guber election are getting brighter and brighter with each passing day
The collection of the Edo North PDP leaders who gathered in Fugar, the administrative headquarters of the Etsako Central Council area, are, by no means, light weights in the politics of the district.
Many of them control the party structures in their respective areas of influence. They have also fought and won several political battles and can, therefore, be regarded as veterans.
A foremost PDP leader in Edo north district, Senator Yisa Braimoh described the gathering as the best in recent times comparable to that of November 2020 when the district Leaders met to receive Gov Godwin Obaseki into the party.
Today’s event was a roll call of who is who in the polity of Edo North , including serving and former political office holders from the district.
Chief Oghiadomhe, who chaired the meeting as the political leader of the district, is a former two-term deputy governor of the state as well as a former Chief of Staff to former President Goodluck Jonathan
Dr. Asue Ighodalo was not only visibly present but also addressed the leaders about his vision for the state , including his mission and commitment to transform Edo state from poverty to prosperity .
Apart from Chief Oghiadomhe, the other Edo North PDP leaders at the meeting included Sen. Yisa Braimoh (PDP Owan East and West leader); Rt. Hon. Blessing Agbebaku, Speaker of the state assembly; Hon Johnson Abolagba , Otunba Olu Fashanu , Dr. Bolaji Ojebuobuo , chief Oyolo , Rt. Hon Joe Ekpenkhio . Rt Hon Omo Ezomon , Hon uyi Maiaika , ,Hon. Henry Duke Tenebe; and, former Speaker, Hon. Kabiru Adjoto, chief Lucky James
Serving and former Edo State PDP functionaries, as well as all the LGA council chairmen, were also at the meeting.
Chief Oghiadomhe, in his opening salvos, somehow downplayed the crisis rocking the party at the state level when he referred to everyone present as an original member of the PDP.
He also dismissed as “untrue and malicious,” insinuations that Gov. Obaseki was the one who brought Dr. Asue Ighodalo into the PDP. and the state .
According to him, Dr. Ighodalo had been a long-standing member of the Oshiomole Economic Management Team, which developed the blueprint on which Edo State still runs on till date.
Oghiadomhe submitted that Dr. Ighodalo is eminently qualified for the highest political office in the state having acquired the requisite tutelage and cognate experience from some of the best brains across the country, adding further that the belief of the Edo North leaders in equity and justice in the distribution of political offices is completely altruistic and unshakeable.
He added that the decision to extend a handshake to their brothers in the Edo Central district was not for any future political gains but as a means of reordering the polity and giving every district a stake
Other speakers extolled the intimidating credentials Dr. Ighodalo is bringing into the race, especially the trio of Tenebe, Adjoto, and Agbukor, who described him as a “tested and trusted hand”
When Dr. Ighodalo later spoke, and he said tributes to the collective efforts of the leaders in keeping the PDP intact despite attempts to subdue and railroad them.
Describing himself as a “thoroughbred homeboy” who knows the nooks and crannies of the state like the palm of his hand, Dr. Ighodalo said his mission is to uplift the state and its economy as well as bring prosperity to the people.
Senator Yisa Braimoh , the PDP National Leader of Owan East and West LGA’s , moved the motion calling for the adoption of Dr. Asue Ighodalo by the leaders.
His motion which affirmed the principles of zoning and rotation as entrenched in the 1999 PDP Constitution ( as amended ) , and the commendable efforts of the Chief Tom Ikimi-led Edo Central PDP Special Committee that is expscred to shortly announce the Esan preferred Gubernatorial candidate , received thunderous affirmation from all leaders in a voice vote , and also ended up carrying the day as the Edo North PDP leaders vowed to stick by the resolution reached at the meeting .
