Chief Dan Orbih, who was recently returned as national vice-chairman, South- South of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is engaged in battle with some elements of the national leadership of the party over the zonal congress that returned him to office. In this interview, Orbih, veteran leader of the PDP in Edo State ventilates on the issues in the party, his association with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and the eruptions that clouded his association with immediate past governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki.
The national leadership of the PDP appears to be opposed to the zonal congress that brought you forward as national vice-chairman of the party?
Well, I think that they are in a better position to answer that question. All I know is that everything was done in accordance with the provisions of our party’s Constitution to bring up a new exco for the South-South. I also want to use this opportunity to thank faithful party men and women and delegates from the various states who participated in that congress. I also want to assure them that I will do everything not to disappoint them. We will do everything to ensure that our party will be stronger than what it is now.
Party stakeholders allege that governors of the party, who are apparently leaders of the party in their respective states, did not give the go-ahead for this Congress. Do they need to give a go-ahead?
There is nothing in the Constitution that says all the governors must be present before a congress takes place. In the first election I contested that was held in Port Harcourt, not all the PDP governors were present. Governors Obaseki and Ayade were absent but the election held. So, I don’t know. In this particular instance, the governors wrote a letter saying that they were having one engagement or the other.
So, does that invalidate the congress?
No, we had a Zonal Executive Committee meeting that was well publicized. We took pages in the national newspaper so that nobody would say they were not aware of the meeting. Invitations were sent out to the governors, to members of the National Assembly, members of the Zonal Executive, and all critical stakeholders who were supposed to attend that meeting. The meeting was well attended across board and it was shown live on AIT. The elections took place, people emerged, there is nobody who obtained any form that came out after the congress to challenge the outcome of the congress.
Now, you are a member of the National Working Committee of the party. Did the NWC at any point in time deliberate on the issues concerning the South-South?
No. No. Well, I don’t really like to speak so much about the National Working Committee, but I can tell you we have not had any meeting where this issue came up for discussion. I’m aware Debo (National Publicity Secretary) has been coming out with statements on behalf of the party and, if you look carefully, none of those statements were signed by him. So, I believe political mischief makers are at the game.
But he has not denied the statements.
Yes. But he has not signed any of the statements. Let me tell you, he is a lawyer. You know that an unsigned statement cannot be credited legally to any person.
Okay. Now, there is a perception that the national leadership or the mainstream of the party is against your emergence because of your close relationship with Minister Nyesom Wike, who is working for the APC government.
Let me make it abundantly clear here that my membership of PDP cannot determine those who are my friends and those who should be my enemies. If at my age, I now belong to a political party and the party tells me, this man cannot be your friend…I have friends across board. I have friends in Labour Party, I have friends in APC, I have friends in many other parties, but that doesn’t affect my membership and commitment to the PDP. I want to say it very clearly, PDP cannot determine my friendship with Barrister Nyesom Wike, a very dependable, hard-working friend of mine. Okay. I also want to say here, the issue of Wike working with the APC Federal Government is not an issue. Before he took up that appointment, he wrote to the acting national party chairman and I can tell you quite honestly, there is no record showing that the current acting national chairman and the members of the National Working Committee wrote him in reply to his letter that he should not participate in this government. He wrote to the South-South Zonal Party Executive. We had a meeting in Port Harcourt and, unanimously, we said it was a call to service, to national service.
And we gave him our nod. He wrote to the state chapter of his party and the response was positive, that he should take the appointment as a national call for service. He wrote to his ward and local government chapters of the party. There is no organ of the party that came out to say “no, don’t accept this appointment”. He wrote to the Governors Forum and I can tell you, the first meeting held by the Governors’ Forum, at the closure of the meeting, they led a delegation of that body, all those who came to the meeting, to go and congratulate him in his office in Abuja.
Thereafter, Bala Mohammed granted an interview where he praised him (Wike) and said he was very confident that he was going to do well. You see, we must be very careful about how we treat members. I’ve told you now that his participation in this government is not an issue, except for those who are mischievous. Because when he was given an invitation to serve in this government, he wrote to every critical organ of the party, informing them that Mr. President has invited him to be part of his government. Let me see the evidence by any of these bodies that met after he was given this appointment to say, “Please don’t be part of this government”. I’m also aware, not too long ago, the members of the Board of Trustees met him in his official residence. Throughout that meeting, none of them raised this issue. So, Wike, the Honorable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, is not working for APC; he is working for the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
So now, how will you describe the state of the party?
Well, you can see it for yourself. The party at the moment is going through a lot of challenges, and it’s unfortunate that those in leadership, instead of addressing most of the problems confronting us as a party, are busy chasing shadows. Yes. It is just unfortunate that the leadership of the party has not sat down to face the challenges we are facing in the party. For example, we are talking about putting a caretaker committee over the constitutionally elected executive in the South-South.
Have you asked yourself how many times we have seen the leaders rise up to take decisions to solve the crisis and the disaster we have in our hands in Rivers State? It’s a party where people ignore problems, pretend they don’t exist. We have not seen the party embark on a tour of sensitization and mobilization of party members in states where we are not in government. We cannot continue to chase shadows and believe that God will help us. Heaven helps those who help themselves.
In December 2023, when you had your Christmas party, Governor Obaseki came around, and he gave the impression that he would be coming around for your normal Christmas party in the future. Was he present in the 2024 Christmas party after the election?
This particular issue is not something I feel comfortable discussing because Obaseki met the party as a united party. After collecting the position, he left the office with the party now highly divided. And this again can be attributed to the role played by the leadership of the party. I was present at the meeting held at the Bauchi State Governor’s Lodge, where he (Governor Bala Mohammed) openly told those of us present that, yes, Obaseki had not done well, or that Obaseki had done a lot of harm to the party. And he said, “But we will support him and support whoever is projected for the governorship because he’s one of us. He’s our colleague. We cannot work against him.” And I stood up at that meeting and expressed my reservations. I said, “Well, he said he didn’t really mean it the way he said it,” but that clearly shows the grounds on which Obaseki was allowed to produce a candidate for the party. And the rest is history!
Obaseki was at that meeting? Yes, he was at that meeting.
But you didn’t answer the question about whether Obaseki came for your last Christmas party in 2024.
He came to the last Christmas party prior to the election (2023). By then, he had started seeing very visible signs that he was going to face challenges in forcing down the throats of loyal party members who had been in the party before he joined. A candidate who was not known to the leaders of the party, it’s what football commentators would describe after conceding five goals in a match and in the dying seconds of extra time you score a goal. The football commentator will always describe such an effort as “too little, too late.”
