Current ativities at the National and state chapters of PDP are convincing to objective observers that its leadership is on an honourable part of reinventing it and are determined to reclaim its lost glory.
Watchers of ongoing political development are unanimous in the opinion that the gestures of fairness currently been seen in the seasoned manner PDP has been conducting its primaries in recent times is already eliciting applause and attracting defectors from other parties.
However, this heightened orgy of Goodwill and admiration towards PDP across the land must be sustained at all cost if the party is to realise it’s desire to take power from APC come 2019.
Therefore, any party member involved in the imposition of candidates via rigging, threats to lives and the use of street cultists to intimidate voters at primaries is a rebel in the party.
One such rebel surfaced on the 4th of October in Benin at the PDP primary election conducted to determine who represents Oredo constituency 1 in Edo state House of Assembly come May 2019.
The defiant in this episode is non-other than the PDP Oredo LGA Chairman – Thomas Aroko.
Aroko had at the venue of the primary election contested by Desmond Rikado, Osaro Onaiwu Junior Jr. and Lion Okoro openly intimidated delegates with threat to their lives if Mr Okoro was not returned elected.
It was indeed a spectacle of abuse and a medley of shame and horror as party guidelines for the smooth conduct of primaries were relegated to irrelevance.
For instance, Aroko allowed street cultists to gain access to the election venue to brandish dangerous weapons before delegates in such way as to suggest that their lives were unsafe should they not vote Okoro
The result however released shows that Okoro won by 30 votes cornered to him while 18 votes and 7 votes were allotted to Onaiwu Junior and Desmond Rikado respectively.
The Result clearly reflects an assault on the collective spirit of the party for many reasons.
Firstly, news making the rounds indicate that Aroko worked for APC to throw up a semi literate Okoro as the standard bearer of the PDP in Oredo as against more polished, well travelled and educated Desmond Rikado and Onaiwu Junior. It was the reasoned believe of Aroko’s sponsors that an educationally ill equipped Okoro can never beat the APC candidate come 2019.
Those familiar with Oredo and the politics therein knows that the Edo people are proud people. They will never elect an uneducated person over someone with exposure and learning.
By this act of Aroko, PDP has been shortchanged from within by a rebel who has delivered for APC – his pay masters.
Secondly and perhaps more urgent is the need to correct the anomaly that Aroko’s collusion with INEC observers caused. Party faithfuls, admires, friends and foe are still astounded as to how Lion Okoro who does not have age on his side will defeat young educated and exposed Rikado and Onaiwu.
Save for INEC deadline of 7th October, the logically correct thing to do is to cancel the election result. However, since that is materially untenable, for PDP to record victory in Oredo in the general election, Aroko must be suspended for he is a rebel within the party
Rosemary Ajayi (Mrs), a Public Affairs Analyst, writes from Benin
