Anenih, Osunbor will end rift soon - Edo PDP Chairman

Taiwo Adisa, Abuja - 09.03.2008

Edo State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Dan Orbih, has said that the State Governor, Senator Oserhiemen Osunbor and the former chairman of Board of Trustees (BOT) of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, will soon end the rift that engulfed the state chapter of the party recently.

Orbih, who stated this in an interview in Abuja, said that crisis in the state chapter of the party would rob the masses of the most desired dividends of democracy, while the state would also suffer.

He also said that Anenih’s loyalists did not attend the zonal congress of the party in Port Harcourt so as not to portray the image of a serious crisis rocking the party.

According to him, contrary to the reports in the media, Anenih’s loyalists did not appear at the Port Harcourt congress.

He said: “We do believe that it was not going to be good projecting an image of serious crisis in a different state, that is the more reason why we felt that since this thing is being handled by the national headquarters and there are reports indicating what happened in Edo state and the matter is being dealt with, we felt that it was not going to be good for the image of the state that we are fighting in Port Harcourt.

“We believed that Edo state matter should be settled in Edo state and we do believe that very soon, we will have a solution coming, bringing everybody together.”

He stated that the crisis in the state was being blown out of proportion, as according to him, issues are being made out of every development.

“It does appear to me that Edo state issue is being sensationalized because the other day we heard that people were celebrating that a certificate of return has been given to somebody. I challenge anybody to tell me any other state where a certificate of return has been given to any chairman for winning a party election.

“What I want to say is that this crisis will do no one any good. The people that will lose in this whole battle are the masses and it is in the interest of the masses that the crisis is brought to an end as quickly as possible.

Orbih stated that the problem with many state chapters of the party is the attempt by some elected officials to control the government and the party at the same time.

“I am of the firm belief that once a government is elected into office, the primary concern of the elected government should be the welfare of the people and the delivery of electoral promises.

“Once anyone leaves that to get involved in who controls the party, the state will suffer. So if people can concentrate on the job they have been given by the mandate given to them by the people, it will go a long way in removing this time of crisis. It is the attempt to control the government and control the party that leads to this type of crisis and I don’t think it is good for us,” Orbih said.

He declared that the mandate reposed in him at the state congress on February 28 was a mark of confidence reposed in him by the party men and women.

“The congress was a reflection of the confidence reposed in me by the delegates to the congress and their belief that there is the need for a new leadership in the party that will be able to bring our members together once again, especially those who left the party for one reason or the other.