BY OKEY NDIRIBE

Pastor Godstime Edokpa is a member of the PDP Gubernatorial Campaign Committee in Edo State. In a session with newsmen, Edokpa dissected the issues that arose from the gubernatorial primary with an assertion that reason prevailed in the emergence of Gen. Charles Arhiavbare (rtd) as the PDP candidate. Excerpts

Can you say the recently concluded PDP primaries in Edo State was free and fair?
I witnessed the PDP primaries in Edo State and I believe it was free and fair. Whatever is the fall-out of the primaries is a family affair which could be handled and settled amicably within the party.  At the end of any electoral contest, anybody who considers himself as a leader should be able to accept victory or defeat. But when a loser in the just concluded primaries rushes to embrace the leader of the opposition party in the state, it means that he must have had a hidden agenda all along.

This is very strange because we expected him to approach the leadership of the party and ask for what role could be assigned to him. Apart from this, it is unwarranted for such a leader to make inflammatory statements against his own party.

Anybody who calls himself a leader ought to have understood the unfolding scenario in the Edo State PDP. There was an under-lying current even before the primaries was conducted. The handwriting on the wall was so clear that there was no need for somebody to take a leap in the dark.

Although, it is good to engage in philanthropic activities, a good politician should not waste his money buying rice and things like that as gifts to members of the public. If at the end of the day, you fail to get the votes of the delegates, then you have only yourself to blame.

He ought to have reached out to the delegates of the party because these were the people who voted during the primaries.  A General should know when to go to war. If you feel that the party leadership was biased during the primaries, it means that you didn’t have foresight.

Pastor Godstime Edokpa

If you know that the structure of a party is built around the leader, then you should find out the direction in which the leader is moving. You shouldn’t suddenly discover that the leadership of the party was biased only after the primaries have been conducted.  Anybody who feels he has lost out should fall back to the party structure in line with party discipline.

If Ken Imasuagbon  decides  to be jumping from one party to another, he should realize that members of the younger generation are watching. He would be reminded about his political inconsistency at the appropriate time in future.
From what you have said so far, about preference of the party’s leadership before the primaries,  it appears the result of the primaries was pre-determined?

What I mean by that is that the party leadership could sit down and consider who is the candidate that can give the opposition a good fight?  This is because there are certain factors that have to be considered before you support an aspirant who wants to pick the party’s governorship ticket. You must consider the issue of zoning.

You have to consider the zones that have produced personalities holding different offices at the state and federal levels. For instance, if a Minister had already been picked from Edo Central, it means the governorship candidate of the party must come from another zone. At the present time, you can’t pick another candidate from Edo North to run for governor.

If we pick a candidate from Edo Central, we can reasonably guess how this would influence the voting pattern in different parts of the state. You should also bear in mind that the leader of the opposition is not a child.

Was it not possible for the party leadership to invite all the aspirants for a meeting in order to agree on a consensus candidate?

At the beginning, everybody was allowed to express his interest in the governorship race. This notwithstanding, we knew that at some point, there was bound to be some kind of harmonization of the interests of the rival groups within the party. Imasuagbon was asked to step down at a stage but he refused.

He insisted on going to the field to test his popularity. As a grassroots politician, he should have known how many supporters he had among the delegates from each of the three senatorial districts in the state. There is no doubt that he is politically strong in Edo State. But if you have the money without control, you will surely have problems in politics.

Another thing you must know is that even the leader of a party has the right to vote for a particular candidate.  You must also realize that nobody should be surprised if father and son belong to the same political party or group; it is only natural.

I strongly believe that Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole doesn’t have structures to win the 2012 Edo State governorship elections. He won his election in 2007 with borrowed structures.

Right now, he won’t be able to pay the price the owners of those structures would demand from him. You can only win elections when you have the structures; not when you are just one strong man.

Right now, he is negotiating with the owners of those structures and they are giving him a bill he can’t pay. He knows that without those structures, he would be in trouble. This is why he had sleepless nights over the PDP primaries.