By Simon Ebegbulem
BENIN—FORMER Chief of General Staff, Admiral Mike Akhigbe, Wednesday, disagreed with former Gover-nor of old Bendel State, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, on the factional crisis bedevilling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Edo State.

It will be recalled that Ogbemudia recently withdrew his name and that of Admiral Akhigbe as factional leaders in the state PDP, backing the recently elected state executive of the party led by Chief Dan Orbih.

Ogbemudia said: “Any factional activities and identity after the congresses held by PDP in the state is regarded as outdated and anachronistic.

“The declaration became necessary in view of the determination by some self-serving politi-cians to utilise the factio-nal platform to pursue their selfish interest.”

However, Admiral Akhigbe, through Mr. Humphrey Uanseoje, said: “Considering the dimension of the crisis in the state PDP, it is not possible to resolve the issues in the absence of the principal actors and stakeholders.

“This group is not aware of any meeting or resolution of the long standing crisis in the state PDP, let alone Admiral Akhigbe withdrawing as leader of a faction.

“Much as the group is willing and prepared for settlement, it must be settlement anchored on legal principles of justice, fairness and equity.

“This group cannot and will not allow itself to be arm-twisted to an imposed settlement on the pages of newspapers. One point that needs clarification is the constant reference to this group as a faction, which to all intents and purposes is an offensive misrepresen-tation of facts.

“As a matter of fact, this group is the mainstream PDP in Edo State, which emerged from the state congress held on February 28, 2008.”