5th Columnists behind strange letter to Edo Assembly – Edosomwan

AKHERE Godwin,Benin

A leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Edo South Senatorial District, Wednesday described those behind the letter purportedly sent to the just inaugurated Edo state House of Assembly for the position of the Minority leader as the handiwork of fifth columnists who are determined to give the impression that the party is in deep crisis.
A former House of Representatives aspirant in the 2015 National Assembly election, Hon. Osaretin Edosomwan, however submitted that the party is currently undergoing restructuring with a bid to take over Osadebey Avenue, the seat of power in 2016.
It would be recalled that confusion broke out Monday on the floor of the House when aside the signed letter sent by the chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, two other signed letters were read proposing another person for the position of the minority leader.
He said: “when you are leading a group of persons there must be some saboteurs and even the APC which is ruling at the centre equally has their own problem. You saw what happened at the National Assembly. These things happen everywhere, so what you saw at the state assembly where more than three letters were sent to the House, to my mind, there is more to it than meets the eyes.
“Any letter outside the chairman of the party, ordinarily should be discountenanced and I think only the letter from the chairman should be entertained and that is not to say the party is in disarray. We have not done any congress where you will say we have a new party chairman. Dan Orbih still remains Edo PDP chairman. Again, are you not sure that this is not also the handiwork of the opposition party to give the impression that there is a divide in the PDP?
On the performance of the PDP in the concluded 2015 election he added: “You know that Edo state presently is controlled by the All
Progressives Congress, APC, but if you look at our performance in the last presidential election vis-a vis the National Assembly election you saw that the PDP won the state in the presidential in a state we have APC governor. And of course, you know that Oshiomhole in all fairness is not a push over in anything.
“So for us to have worked and won with over 60 per cent speaks volumes, and it shows that the PDP is in tune with the people. It also shows that the people want a change in the state just like what happened at the national where Buhari is now the president. If you also look at other states in Nigeria where APC won that brought in the President, it shows that the people actually voted not only along party lines but also ethnic and religious diversity. It wasn’t as if people actually voted based purely on party affiliation. I believe that if PDP had featured a northern candidate, the PDP would have won. In any case, that is history now. What is important for us now is how we can move our dear state forward which is our immediate constituency,” he noted.