By Newsmata
The National Vice Chairman, South-South of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Dan Osi Orbih on Wednesday threw shade at former Vice President Atiku Abubakar whom he accused of being the problem of the party due to his perennial presidential ambition.
Speaking at a handing over ceremony of a new Secretariat he donated to the Edo State chapter of the party, Orbih, who was the state chairman of the PDP from 2009 to 2019, insisted that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, is not the problem of the party.
In a veiled reference to the former vice president who had in the past three decades contested every presidential election, Chief Orbih insisted that the problem of the PDP were those individuals who had entrenched interest to contest every presidential election without adhering to the PDP constitution.
Newsmata.com.ng recalls that the brazen violation of the PDP’s constitution on rotational presidency which delivered the party’s ticket to Atiku, a northerner, in 2023 after eight years of General Muhammadu Buhari also from the north, is directly linked to the protracted crisis in the party.
Orbih, who is also the leader of the PDP Legacy Group in Edo, which was birthed during the feud between immediate past governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki and the original members of the party, called on the acting national chairman, Ilya Damagun, to come up with a programme for congresses that would bring on board new leaders to reposition the party and make it an envy of other political parties.
According to him, “PDP is a formidable party, but it still has its own problems which we can not shy away from .
“Wike is not our party’s problem; the problem we have are those who have entrenched interest in contesting every presidential election without adhering to the constitution
“We must put our past behind us and collaborate with genuine members of the party to rebuild the PDP
“People are mocking the PDP and asking where they are, but i can tell you today that PDP in Edo is back”.
On what prompted him to donate the Secretariat, Orbih noted that the PDP in Edo had become homeless following their eviction from their former secretariat in January
He added that after the eviction, party leaders and members approached him, expressing their disappointment and he promised them a befitting secretariat in response to their complaints.
According to him, “A few weeks ago, I made a promise in one of our meetings that I was going to donate a Secretariat to the Party. I can tell you after today, we can go back home and say it was a promise made and a promise fulfilled.
“You know and I know that PDP cannot be a homeless party. On January 17, 2025, Our Caretaker Chairman Hon. Tony Aziegbemi, was chased out from an office along Airport Road, Benin City.
And from that January 17, 2025 to this very day, Edo PDP has no state Secretariat.
“Many leaders and very concerned members of our great party in Edo State have been reaching out to me expressing their disappointment over that sad incident.
“It was arising from their calls that I promised that I was going to donate an office to Edo PDP.
“On this great day, as we just celebrated the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, on this great day, we celebrate the triumphant opening of the PDP state Secretariat today in Edo State.
“I want to use this opportunity and with the official handing over of this Secretariat to Edo PDP, we are going to put an end to that sad chapter when we have not been with a party Secretariat for the past four months.
“As we mark this historic event, I want to send a very loud message to Jarrett Tenebe, the APC Chairman, he should not come here. If he comes here, he must be prepared to declare for PDP”.
Tenebe had led the invading team that threw out the PDP from the former Secretariat which the APC claimed belonged to it and it was repossessing.
Orbih warned loyalists of former Governor Godwin Obaseki led by Aziegbemi, to stay away from the new Secretariat, an indication that it is yet a long road to peace.
He alleged that they were those “who buried the party” in Edo State.
“I want to state here in my capacity as the the National Vice Chairman, South South of the PDP, those people have no stand in PDP. They are pretenders. From today, we will stop to entertain any statement by any character outside those who will manage the party in Edo State.
“Today, I want to publicly declare that those who collaborated with Godwin Obaseki to kill PDP in Edo State, cannot be caretaker; they are undertakers. Undertakers cannot take care of anything”, he read out the riot act.
Charting the way forward for the party, he declared that “It is time for us to rebuild, reconstruct, and reposition Edo State PDP.
“We must at this moment put our past behind us and let us look forward to a brighter future together.
“I will collaborate with genuine and loyal members of this party who believe that this party must not die, who believe that the future of Edo State is our collective effort, and others who believe in the progress and development of Edo State”.