Edo 2020: Obaseki In High-Stake Political Romance With PDP’s Big-guns…To Decide After Meeting Buhari

• Deputy Gov. Shaibu Likely To Run With Him
• Rounds Off Consultation With PDP Leaders
• Set To Officially Announce Defection

In furtherance of his re-election bid, following his disqualification by the All Progressives Congress (APC) from its primary process last week, Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki has reached out to his Rivers state counterpart, Governor Nyesom Wike as he rounds off talks over his imminent defection to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Governor Obaseki, over the weekend also consulted with Governors of Bayelsa, Delta, and Akwa-Ibom — Duoye Diri, Ifeanyi Okowa and Udom Emmanuel, respectively.

The consultation with South-South PDP Governors, among settling other grey areas by Mr Obaseki, according to report in The New Diplomat, is to lobby them to allow him keep his Deputy Governor, Hon. Philip Shaibu as running mate on the PDP platform.

According to reports, barring any last-minute changes, Governor Obaseki is set to officially announce his defection to the PDP with supporters in the next 24 hours as talks with the who-is-who within the party especially in South South zone is said to have reached its final rounds.

But BIGPEN reported that the governor at the wake of his disqualification by the APC screening committee, mentioned that he would seek audience with President Muhammadu Buhari prior of his next political move whether to defect or not.

“I appreciate the sustained show of solidarity, support and goodwill from Edo people and Nigerians in the face of injustice by the @OfficialAPCNg screening committee. I will be making my next move known after I complete consultations with my supporters and meet with @MBuhari“, he tweeted on his verified twitter account on Sunday.

Edo State Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Barrister Lawal Damian, was reported to have confirmed this latest development to journalists Sunday evening, hinting that the Governor is likely to officially address the media on Monday, where he is expected to officially announce his defection to the PDP.

In recent weeks, Governor Obaseki has been mulling over a defection to the PDP, following the strong opposition his re-election bid has attracted among forces loyal to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and some  key APC political leaders in Edo State

But his disqualification from APC governorship primaries by a screening committee set up by the party ultimately became the last straw that broke the camel’s back on Friday.

Recall on Saturday, an APC Appeal Committee also upheld the disqualification of Obaseki from the primary process, a development that finally sealed the Governor’s fate in APC.

To keep his re-election hopes alive, observers believe members of the Governors team had to weigh various options open to him. One of the options, according to them is for Gov Obaseki to defect to the PDP, and secure the party’s ticket to contest for the governorship seat in the scheduled September governorship election in Edo state.

Another option, is to stay put in APC and fight to upturn the disqualification at the courts. And a third option, according to members of his team is to bow out honorably from the race, and use the remaining part of his administration to consolidate on his achievements for posterity.

According to the report, the team may have opted for the first option which entails decamping to the PDP, and securing the party’s ticket to run for the governorship election.

In furtherance of this, Governor Obaseki on Sunday met with Wike, who is regarded as “the PDP bulldozer in the South-South”. The New Diplomat gathered the meeting in Port Harcourt was all part of a plan by Mr Obaseki to engage in diplomatic horse- trading with the Rivers Governor for him to get a waiver on some of the conditions listed by the party which includes getting the deputy governorship slot.

According to the report, the outcome of the governorship ticket deal which was brokered by a senior national leader of the PDP  and facilitated by some key players in the Edo state PDP chapter, has already sealed up initial understanding to hand over the PDP’s ticket to the Edo governor.

However, a decision to pick a running mate for the Governor was said to have been the most rattling conditions on the PDP cards.

The PDP reportedly wants to have its foothold on the governorship ticket as a way of testing Governor Obaseki’s commitment on the one hand as well as rewarding  those who have reportedly kept the PDP afloat in Edo State by giving them a sense of belonging.

However, political permutations indicate that that would come at the expense of sacrificing Obaseki’s deputy, Hon. Philip Shaibu, a decision that could make the Governor risk going into the contest with divided house and a divisive political support base.

”What happens to Philip? (Deputy Gov Philip Shaibu). It would be bad politics to sacrifice Philip without  serious negotiations. In any case, Philip is insisting on running on the  same ticket with Obaseki. It is delicate matter,” quipped a former Edo state official.

Also, another contending issue borders on getting the three PDP aspirants who had already picked primary nomination forms to step down for Obaseki as a lot of diplomatic horse-trading and logistical trade-offs would be needed to do so. Political observers disclose that these aspirants may have invested heavily in the building and oiling of the  PDP structure in the state  ahead of time.

Within the PDP, about three aspirants have picked up the party’s nomination forms to contest the party’s governorship primary. They include Hon Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, a young member of the House of Representatives from Oredo, in Edo South Senatorial zone,  Barrister Ken Imasuagben, ‘aka rice man’, and Mr Gideon Ikihine. Both Barrister Imasuagbon and Engr Ikhine are from Edo central senatorial zone.

In meantime, it’s not clear how things will play out at the PDP primaries, but sources revealed that getting the PDP aspirants to drop their guber ambition could make Obaseki engage in serious diplomatic horse-trading, negotiations, trade-offs and high-skilled political deals.

”The three aspirants have to agree to step down. If one of them refuses to step down, and he insists on going ahead to contest the primary, then there is serious problem. As i said, a mountain of litigation are lurking in the corner over this Edo governorship polls,” added, a  former Edo state government official.