IT is disheartening and very frustrating when I read a piece on the above subject matter on October 28, 2011 in the Vanguard by Michael Onhiwbere.

Ohhiwbere said it all in his first paragraph when he declared that he is not a politician after chronicling all that made Edo Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, lose to the Action Congress of Nigeria, AC N, via a questionable Appeal Court judgment in 2008.

Yes, he is not a politician and for this singular reason he would have kept his mouth shut and allow politicians to take care of their own affairs. It is rather unfortunate that he lampooned the erstwhile Governor of Edo State, Senator Oserheimen Osunbor who was glaringly a victim of circumstance. Osunbor came into governance and within a space of 18 months he re-wrote the history of PDP in the state to the delight of all.

If PDP must win next year’s election, a political neophyte like Kenneth Imasuagbon should not be in the scheme of things at all.

PDP is not a political nursery school for political pupils like imasuagbon; nobody in the reformed Edo PDP in his right senses will field an unmarketable candidate to face the Goliath currently occupying the Dennis Osadbey Government House.

An Osunbor who has displayed rare courage in the act of governance and proven to Nigerians that transparency could exist in the political lexicon of Edo State, stands a better chance than any other candidate. Other candidates presently jostling for the PDP ticket should advise themselves to either step down for an Osunbor so that the election could be won next year or go ahead and disgrace themselves in the primaries.

Edo PDP is wiser now with men like Chief Dan Obih in the saddle. The mistake of the past that derailed the party can never be repeated. An Obih that the present rudderless government in the state could not buy over will not allow his sweat go in vain.

The general opinion of Edo PDP members is that a better material should stand against the imposed governorship candidate of ACN in next year’s guber election in the state.

We all know that 2007 was never a mistake, it was destined to happen and now that it has been destined that a change must be made in the political landscape of Edo, people like Onhibwere should not allow their wagging tongues mislead Edo people.

The good people of the “Heartbeat of the Nation” know that in 18 months Osunbor designed a new roadmap for the state and within the said period revolutionised the health sector of the state.

He made pensioners kings, he rejuvenated the civil service due to his apostolic approach to governance, he revamped all farm settlements within a space of 18 months. PDP should be proud to field such a candidate who has a proven track record without a blemish. Imansungbon should wait on the sidelines for his turn as he still has age on his side and his many viable enterprises.

Edo PDP is currently shopping for a good and a highly competent hand that can quickly transform the state from its current rurality to urbanity. Kindergarten politicians cannot fit in because the Goliath in Government House can only fall to the bombardments of a political heavy weight in the mould of Osunbor.

Political jobbers, neophytes and chop-I- chop politicians are hereby advised to sheathe their swords and work for the common good of Edo PDP. Internal democracy is the new slogan of PDP nationwide as the inability of the party to entrench it in the past rubbished its good intentions for Nigerians.

At the national level, the party knows a good product at the state level; also the party knows a marketable and a tested candidate. Osunbor, for now, is the only man that possesses the credentials to stand as Edo PDP governorship flagbearer.

He has all it takes to unseat the incumbent in Government House. He has an unbeatable track record that nobody in the fold of the Edo PDP can boast of as at today.

He has been with the party despite all the insults he received trying to mend fences, even when he remained the most aggrieved in the scheme of things that sent him packing from Government House in 2008.

Fielding an Osunbor as the Edo PDP flag bearer can never be a mistake, rather it is a blessing to the party. A man who was in governance for that short period of time and still left indelible marks in the state deserves nothing else but a second chance to prove his mettle.

PDP has suffered too many defeats via questionable court judgements; this is an opportunity to prove all doubting Thomases wrong that the party is the one to beat in the state.

Mr. IRHIEHI OKHAI, a political analyst, wrote from Benin City, Edo State.