Segun James
All may not have ended in the crisis that is now rocking the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the Modu Ali Sheriff-led faction of the party is wooing Chief Solomon Edebiri as its candidate in its own primaries for the September 10 election.
The faction, THISDAY gathered, was now wooing Edebiri and Hon. Mathew Iduiyikemwen, two other aspirants in the last Monday’s party primaries to contest its own primaries as both governorship and deputy governorship candidates.
It could not be confirmed if the two men have accepted the offer of the Sheriff group, however, the leader of the PDP in the South-west region, Chief Bode George, has described the statement credited to Sheriff that he would conduct another governorship in the state as an exercise in futility and an attempt for political lunacy.
George said sheriff ceased to be the national chairman of the party the moment he put himself forward as a candidate for the chairmanship and was screened.
Speaking to journalists at his home yesterday, George said: “You cannot be the midwife and the baby at the same time. That’s what Sheriff had become. He wants to conduct an election in which he is also a candidate. How is that possible?”
He advised the former chairman not to dance naked in the market place as those watching may not understand what is happening to him.
This followed the emergence of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu as the party governorship candidate in the September 10, 2016, governorship election.
The Sheriff group which is claiming leadership of the party is said to have made it clear that Ize-Iyamu may end up as a liability for the party if retained as candidate because of his involvement in the $155 million Mrs. Deziani Allison-Madueke campaign money scandal as the candidate faces investigation.
Recently, Ize-Iyamu was invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as part of investigation into how the money was shared by some PDP leaders.
The group is claiming that the party may have unwittingly preyed into hands of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) which may use the EFCC to investigate the alleged role of the PDP candidate in the deal or even detain him as the election approaches, forcing the party to have two battles to contend with as it battles for the governorship and the EFCC.
Meanwhile, the APC led by its governorship candidate, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, in a surprise move last Tuesday, approached Edebiri to work together with him.
Obaseki was said to have gone to Edebiri’s home in company of Major Gen. Charles Arhiavbere (rtd), Senator Domingo Obende and other top members of the state APC.
Although details of the meeting was not known, the APC move may be one of the strategies of the party to bring in people with substantial followings in the PDP to the APC.
Edebiri is believed to have substantial following and a force to be reckoned with in the political equation of the state.
