Mr. Hilary Otsu, the Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo, asserted that Governor Godwin Obaseki bears responsibility if PDP fails to present a candidate for the forthcoming Edo gubernatorial election.
Speaking in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday, Otsu insisted that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party also shares culpability in this scenario.
Otsu's comments were in response to concerns about the party's potential failure to field a candidate for the election, given the controversies surrounding its ward congresses election.
Many of the governorship aspirants rejected the congresses' outcomes, which form the basis of voters in the primaries. However, the chairman of the congresses election committee, Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu, asserted that the elections were transparent.
Otsu emphasized that it is imperative for Obaseki and the NWC to initiate a sincere reconciliation process to foster unity within the PDP in Edo.
“I believe that everything is about politics and can be resolved as such. The earlier this (reconciliation) is done, the better.
“But if it is left to fester, then we stand the unfortunate risk of not fielding a candidate.
“In this case, the governor and the NWC must be ready to take responsibility for, as far as Edo 2024 is concerned,” he remarked.
The secretary also expressed dissatisfaction with the ongoing process to select the state's party governorship candidate.
According to him, no one can be satisfied with a process which he alleged is flawed from the start.
“The mere fraud of depositing the congress materials in the custody of the state governor for 'safe keeping' negates the principle of fairness in the process.
“I am sure that is why nine aspirants out of ten have protested, coupled with the fact that they were excluded,’’ he stated.
He added that their reactions are understandable given the substantial investment they made, including about N40 million each, just to purchase forms.