Crisis looms in Edo PDP over tenure elongation plans
ABIODUN JIMOH, BENIN CITY
The peace and tranquility experiencing at Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Edo State chapter may become things of the past as the party current state exco alleged plans to extend their tenure has met brick walls from stakeholders.
Worried by the plans, the party stakeholders however vowed to embark on court actions the national leadership of the party fails to dissolve the state executive and conduct fresh congresses.
Speaking in Benin City on behalf of the stakeholders, former vice-chairman, Ikpoba-Okha local government area, Hon. Jeffrey Osamede stated that they want the national leadership of the party to carry out dissolution before the conduct of 2020 gubernatorial election in Edo, to maintain party cohesion, peace, unity and concord.
Osamede said: “We call on the presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; national chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, the Board of Trustees and the South-South Governors particularly the Rivers State governor, Nysom Wike and his Delta State counterpart, Ifeanyi Okowa to look into this matter, because it will take a different dimension if not urgently addressed.
“The national leadership of the party should dissolve the Dan Orbih-led state executive and conduct new state congresses as he has served the mandatory eight years of two tenures provided for in the party’s constitution.
“The current executive of the party in the state was planning to elongate it’s tenure, arguing that such a move will see the party forever remain in opposition. There is nothing like tenure elongation in our party.
“The party constitution allows a maximum eight years tenure and minimum four years. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo tried tenure elongation, but he failed. If he failed why will a state chairman of the party try it and succeed.
“The present chairman has been in the office since 2009 after the death of former chairman,. He was brought him to complete that tenure; thereafter he has been elected consecutively for two terms, in line with our Constitution.”
He condemned the alleged plan to forcefully extend the tenure of the current state executive, warning that allowing the present executive to midwife the conduct of the next year’s governorship primaries without congresses will spell doom for the party in Edo.
The former council boss who gave the Edo PDP state executive a pat on the back for doing their best noted that their leadership was not good enough to reclaim the state for the party.
