Politics
PDP not your personal property, Obaseki fires back at Wike
The governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has warned his counterpart in Rivers State, Nyesom Wike against intimidation and threatening of members of the party who express their views on party affairs, stressing that all members are equal.
Obaseki said this while responding to Wike’s outburst on his (Obaseki’s) deputy, Philip Shaibu, who lamented that he and his supporters were enduring ill treatment in Edo PDP after their defection in 2019.
In a statement released on Monday and personally signed by him, Obaseki accused Wike of handling PDP as though the party were his personal property.
He expressed surprise that Wike could resort to personal attacks on Shaibu without reaching out to him (Obaseki) as colleague-governors before his public outburst.
The statement reads partly, “No one is against his desire to run for president, however, his ambition should not be embarked on in such a way that it would cause disruption at different levels, such as the PDP Governors’ Forum as well as different chapters of the party across the country.
READ ALSO: ‘Ordinary convention they cannot organise,’ Wike mocks APC
“It clearly amounts to delusion of grandeur, for any one man to nurse the idea that he owns or has more stake in the PDP and everyone should pander to him.
“We are all equal stakeholders in the party and an aggregate of the ideas, opinions, and contributions of all leaders and members should form the position of the party and not the view of one individual or a select few.
“While Governor Wike is free to use his resources as he deems fit in pursuit of his ambition, he should not attempt to cow, intimidate, cajole and threaten others into doing his bidding. Edo State cannot and will not be procured for anyone’s personal ambition.”
Obaseki, while exonerating Shaibu, highlighted instances when Wike had threatened the PDP
“On September 16, 2018, Governor Wike threatened the party that there would be grave consequences if it moved the National Convention from Port Harcourt in the run-up to the 2019 presidential election.
“On September 12, 2019, Governor Wike also threatened to cause trouble for the party over the emergence of Hon. Ndudi Elumelu as the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives,” the Edo governor recounted.
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