Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, Edo State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has denied rumours making the rounds that Governor Godwin Obaseki has secretly obtained the party’s nomination form, filled and submitted same at the party’s national secretariat in anticipation of his failure to secure the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket.
Aziegbemi, who said he was aware of the rumours, added that there was no truth in that allegation, explaining that three people had bought forms from the PDP National Headquarters and that the sale of forms had closed since midnight last Monday.
He named the three people that bought the party’s nomination forms as Barrister Ken Imasuagbon, Engr. Gideon Ikhine and Mr. Ogbeide Ihama.
According to him, “Those are the three people that have bought forms and those are the three people that will take part in the primaries of my party on June 23 and 24, 2020.
“So, there is no truth whatsoever in the fact that the incumbent governor has bought form, and has filled it and has told us not to announce it to anybody. There is no truth in that at all. It is total falsehood.”
Aziegbemi said his party’s preparations for the primaries are in top gear, adding, “even just this last Wednesday, the National Working Committee (NWC) invited us to come to Abuja. We were in Abuja with some members of the State Working Committee, where we were given the thinking and the guidelines towards preparations for the primary.
“You know that the primaries are not an end itself. There are other activities that relate to that. For instance, on June 9, we are going to elect three ad-hoc delegates for each ward.
“So, on Tuesday June 9, all 92 wards in the state will be conducting a congress to elect three ad-hoc delegates. On June 19, there will be a congress to elect a national delegate per LGA. It is when we do all that we will now have a complete list, the full list of the delegates that will take part in the primaries taking place on June 23 and 24.”
On why the fourth aspirant, Ifaluyi Isibor, withdrew from the race at the last minute, Aziegbemi said, “Hon. Ifaluyi Isibor, is a complete gentleman. He sent a text yesterday saying that he has withdrawn from the race, saying that people prevailed on him. Leaders and elders in the party in his local government prevailed on him and he has seen reasons with them.
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“I think he is a complete gentleman, he must have seen that, he saw what he saw and I am sure he did not just want to go on with the race because of the reality perhaps that he has seen but that is what makes a good party man.”
Aziegbemi also spoke on the alleged zoning of the governorship position, saying, “the party did not zone the governorship position to any senatorial zone.”
He maintained that the stakeholders at a meeting last year had resolved that the positions of chairman and the governor would not be zoned to any senatorial district as the party wanted the best people to handle the positions.
Meanwhile, the South-South Buhari Anti-Corruption Group has berated those calling for the certificate of Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, asking them to verify from the school he attended if they were so interested.
The group further lambasted the critics, adding the governor schooled in Nigeria and not in Chicago or Toronto, and that if they were interested, they should go to the school and confirm the authenticity of his results.
The anti-corruption group said that criticising and passing judgments on the governor on the pages of newspapers was not the best path to take.
The group, in a statement by its President, Imafidon Peter Odion, challenged those criticising the governor to mandate all the governorship aspirants to get the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) clearance certificates as a yardstick to avoid unpleasant situation in the future.
The group noted that if the governor did not graduate from the University of Ibadan, he would not have been called an alumnus of the school, adding that it was on that premise he was invited by the school authority for a programme not long ago.
