Chief Dan Orbih who was at the helm of the PDP for twelve unbroken years as the state chairman is someone whose reign was characterized with controversies and a dearth of leadership at the state chapter. He was known as someone who paid lip service in his plans to enthrone PDP as the ruling party in Edo state. Virtually all his executives had at one time or the other accused him of a deliberate emasculation of the PDP state apparatus in order to further his political merchandising. During his reign, he ensured the finances of the party came through him and as such the financial secretary was always on sabbatical. He was known for his dramatic press conferences, where he would sit in front of a pile of sensitive documents, allegedly obtained from Oshiomhole’s office containing financial embezzlement by the then governor. It was later learnt that those press conferences were staged as a cover for the underhand deal that was taking place between Dan Orbih and Adams Oshiomhole.

Orbih perpetual sale of PDP’s fortune to Oshiomhole.

Party stalwarts in the state who were popular in their local government as well as senatorial yet, always unsuccessful at the polls, began to really look into the allegations of Dan Orbih being an albatross to the party as well as an inside trader, trading away the political future of sincere and hard-working party men and women. You would recall that as early as March 2015, there was a massive protest in the state against the return of Dan Orbih as the state chairman and the reason for this, was largely due to his unholy trading that was very rife at that time between him and Adams Oshiomhole, who is also his kinsman. The harder Dan Orbih and his co travellers pushed back on this grave allegation, the clearer the people saw through his false denial. No matter how promising a PDP candidate might be and how enthusiastic Edo people looked forward to a PDP victory, PDP always loses. The trading was even more evident in Dan Orbih’s senatorial, where he could not win a single elective seat during his long reign.

Orbih showcases his ultimate anti-part onslaught.

The inside trading by Dan Orbih became irrefutable when governor Godwin Obaseki alongside his deputy and followers were planning to become members of PDP, after being driven out of their party by APC and Oshiomhole, which would automatically return PDP back to power, having lost it since 2008. Dan Orbih and his co travellers placed roadblocks at every turn, both at the state and national level. Since Oshiomhole was no longer in government, he turned to his old friend in Port Harcourt for another round of trading and managed to once again sell out the PDP to him. At this point, it became abundantly clear to everyone that Dan Orbih was a skilled master trader. It took the intervention of PDP bigwigs both at the state and national level for Dan Orbih and his group to bow to pressure and reluctantly accept Obaseki into the party.

The question on everyone’s lips became; if the purpose of setting up a political party is to gain power in order to implement the party’s manifesto, why was Dan Orbih opposed to the coming of governor Godwin Obaseki? Because the party had already been sold to governor Wike, the struggle for the party remained and lingered till date. Dan Orbih and his group having lost at the Supreme court and sensing there is no way back for them, Dan Orbih has now openly bared his fangs by confirming the suspicion of many people by his open political alignment between the Legacy PDP group and Oshiomhole, which was in full display during the presidential election. They have also finalised another agreement with Oshiomhole to work and vote all APC candidates at the forthcoming House of Assembly polls, in order to gain majority in the house to enable him impeach governor Obaseki.

Cut PDP and Kill it, Dan Orbih declares.

How can someone who claimed to have built PDP, be the same person planning to destroy it, in cahoots with the same person he has always opposed, simply because of a disagreement with governor Obaseki. There is a lot for Edo people to ponder on here. However, I will sum up my treatise with the famed biblical story in first Kings, where two mothers living in the same house, each the mother of an infant son, came to Solomon. One of the babies had been smothered, and each claimed the remaining boy as her own. Calling for a sword, Solomon declared his judgement: the baby would be cut in two, each woman to receive half. with this strategy, he was able to discern the fraudulent mother as the woman who entirely approved of this proposal. This is exactly what Dan Orbih and his co-travellers are doing at the moment; cut the baby in two and kill him. The Legacy PDP and Edo people should ponder on this biblical story and draw their conclusion on who deserve to lead Edo state at this material time.

Hon. George Kellyford Edigin, writes from Benin City, Edo State. He is a PDP Chieftain, Former Councillor and Former House of Assembly aspirant, Uhunmwonde State Constituency.