Being among the six people that held the first meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State in 1998, Mr. Okharedia Ihimekpen, popularly called ‘The Living Ancestor’, is acclaimed to be one of the oldest members of the party in the state. The one-time Director of Communications during the tenure of Chief Lucky Igbinedion as Governor of Edo State, spoke on how Governor Godwin Obaseki clinched the PDP governorship ticket, among other issues. Excerpts:
After 12 years in opposition, Governor Godwin Obaseki has taken your party, the PDP, back into the Government House of Edo State. How do you feel as a top member of the party?
I must say that every man and woman in Edo State is happy with the development in the state. I am a happy PDP man. All things being equal, I can tell you that, with what is happening in the state right now, the PDP is going to win the next governorship election in September.
Don’t you see the accepting of Obaseki as cheap opportuny for your party?
I can tell you that the coming of Governor Obaseki was a symbiotic relationship between him and the PDP.
How was it symbiotic?
PDP expected it, pleaded for it, begged the gods for it. Obaseki also came to PDP as leverage to save his political career, because he was almost going into political oblivion. In short, he would have been retired politically due to what happened in his former party. So when the disaster happened to him in his party, he was looking for a place to go, and PDP was also looking for an image that can also help to lift the party, and they saw it as a big opportunity and they married. That was how the whole thing clinched, but it was not a teaparty, Obaseki had to pass through every thick and thin to ensure he got on boarde. In PDP, you know that there were some people who were there before him who never wanted him; they were aggrieved they did everything possible to ensure they frustrate him.
Do you truly see him winning the polls?
Winning the election is a 50/50 chance for him, because the disaster that happened to Comrade Adams Oshiomhole lately has brought all Edo North together to be in sympathy with him. You cannot just humiliate their son out of power at the national level and think you will get their support. They will sink and die with him just like the sympathy that went with Obaseki. So if you ask me a million times, I will tell you a million times that the election is going to be 50/50 on both sides.
How true is the news making the rounds that some members of the PDP in the state are still aggrieved?
Everything is about money. Most people never wanted him, especially the former chairman, Dan Orbih and his team, they were against his coming, they did everything to stop his coming to PDP, but Obaseki knew the game and he decided to go up to sort himself out. Prominent PDP leaders in Edo were also behind him, they felt that PDP cannot go into election without a big fish like him. So, as soon as he came in, they said ‘we have got a big fish’. Ever before he demanded waiver, they were already working it out for him. If waiver in the state had to start from the local government, he won’t have gotten it, but he started at the top and he was given a waiver.
What is waiver?
Waiver in politics means that your sins are forgiven, that is, if you are supposed to pay this and that, they will push it aside.
Before Obaseki was allowed to pick the PDP membership form, a drama played out. What really happened?
Now, let me tell you the drama that happenned, even to the point of the day he went to take PDP card, when some forces were still fighting him. The chairman of ward four and the secretary of the ward are responsible for giving out party membership card in the ward. On that day, the chairman absconded with the register, so Obaseki had to go and perform the ceremony at the party secretariat. When the leaders of the party saw that people where bent on sabotaging his coming to PDP, he was advised to go to the nearest ward, which is ward three, to officially formalise his membership of the party. So it was then he realised that he has a house in that ward. Obaseki registered in ward three. If he had not registered that day, it would have been used against him that he is not a member of the party, just like what a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said about Pastor Osagie Ize- yamu.
In all of these, who takes the credit of making Edo a PDP state again after 12 years in opposition?
Well, one could thank the likes of Dr. Tony Aziengbemi the state PDP chairman who rejected compromise from his masters, and demanded justice. If he had followed the advice of those self centered PDP leaders in the state who never wanted Obaseki to join us, it would have been much more difficult for him. Again Obaseki’s earlier romance with strong PDP governors and members at the top contributed immensely to his success in coming to PDP.
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State was in Benin the day Obaseki defected. What does that mean to the PDP family in Edo State?
Okowa’s coming to Edo State on such a great day is a good omen for us in the PDP. He came to address us, telling PDP members not to go to sleep. The battle is between the two party. PDP wants Governor Obaseki to win the governorship election, and APC is afraid because they have lost one big thing. That is why President Muhammadu Buhari said the other day, that all APC governors should be ready to go to Edo and deliver the state for APC. So it is going to be 50/50. But if you look at the calculations now, PDP would win. However, I still advise the governor to be checking his men and watch his back, because if he does not, his closest person can stab him in the back. As we speak now, Obaseki has brought life into the PDP in Edo State and that is causing confusion in APC. They are still thinking that they may not be able to recover from the shock. And now, any PDP member in Edo State can now wake up and say, ‘yes PDP is in control of the Government House’. Whether the governor answers them or not in the next four months, PDP is in charge of the state.
Are PDP members comfortable with him coming with his full team?
Naturally, all politicians are platform seekers; he didn’t come to PDP because he loves PDP so much, and PDP didn’t want him because he is the only one. He wanted a political forum to actualise his political dream and PDP also needed him to help capture the state they lost many years ago, so it is a symbolic relationship. He came at the right time.
Is it true that some APC chieftains were lobbying PDP to stop Obaseki’s defection?
Let me tell you the secret; during the Night of Long Knives, while the three other aspirants were refusing stepping down, the APC was also sending messages to our people. When top PDP members were begging the three aspirants to step down, with Obaseki paying what he has to pay, some top APC members were also lobbying the three aspirants not to accept his offer. When the governor was explaining himself to us, I made a statement to him through one of his aides. I asked him: If they so much love you, why did they screen you out?’ I said’ ‘it was because they know you will succeed, so, come and join the PDP’.
Looking at previous elections in Osun, Imo and Ekiti states, many people have argued that the September 19 poll is going to be between the PDP and Obaseki on one hand, against the APC and the Federal Government on the other hand. Do you agree with them?
Politics is a game of conspiracy and intrigues for the attainment of power. Benue governor survived it, Sokoto governor survived it, there is nothing impossible in the game of politics.
Are you not afraid of the large political image of the APC candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu?
Yes, I know that Pastor Osagie Ize- Iyamu (POI) is a strong tactician, he is very perfect in planning, he is a grassroots man. You don’t underrate him, if you do, it is at your peril. So, if you say ‘I’m a governor nothing is happening’, you sit down and swim in joy thinking that you have arrived, you will only be deceiving yourself. If you don’t closemark POI, he is dangerous. Again look at the person he has chosen as his deputy, Hon. Ganiyu Audu, that one too is a very dangerous politician from Edo North, he is the engine room of Edo North, a perfect gentleman who knows what politics is all about.
What are the odds against the PDP?
The combination of POI, Oshiomhole, and Audu, coupled with the sympathy of Edo North for Oshiomhole is a dangerous potential that the PDP must contend with. And if you look at Ize-Iyamu’s political ratings in his local government, if other aspirants decided to join forces with him, it means that the PDP has a great potential to contend with. So also it is in Edo South. PDP can survive it if they start planning now. It might interest you to know from the reports on my table that POI has set up 25 committees to combat PDP. But PDP people are still drinking, believing we have won.
Despite your being called Living Ancestor, you have not been given any concrete role to play in the emergence of Obaseki as the PDP flag bearer. Why is that so?
I will tell you that I am the oldest person in PDP in Edo State, I can also tell you the names of six people that attended the first PDP meeting on June 27, 1998 in Prof. Jerry Gana’s house. Look at the primary they conducted, when they were setting up committees for the primary election, they didn’t put my name, that is delusion, it is backwardness. So, if Obaseki wants to win, he should go back to the table and begin to plan. If he doesn’t… well I’m afraid. We all know that Obaseki is not a politician, the last time he came, the people that did it for him are no longer with him, so if I have to look at these issues, Obaseki will be boxed to a corner. There are so many factors that lead to victory in politics; money, dogmatism acceptability, massage and the drive. The politician drive the voters, if he gets to the market people would say, ‘ha Obaseki is bad’, they will say all sorts of things, but when it comes to politics, it is the politician that can cushion that talk that will make them have a change of mind. You will agree with me that APC has very deadly politicians, so PDP chairman must sit down with his political trojans and plan the way forward, otherwise he will be in his office while his empire would be taken away from him.
But you said it was a symbiotic need. If it was symbiotic, does he have to pay for it again?
It was a two way thing, benefiting Obaseki and benefiting the PDP. So, Obaseki coming to PDP is a marriage of convenience.
Are you not thinking that Obaseki may go back to the APC after winning the election?
Some people have been saying that, and I am afraid so, but the only thing I’m saying is that Obaseki should not win the election and abandon the PDP. If he does that he will pay for it dearly. He came when he needed us most and we accepted him. A politician is a politician, he can get his ticket and go back to where he belongs. Both POI and Obaseki are leading garrisons. Obaseki came to PDP with his garrison; POI went to APC with his garrison too. Whichever way, they will settle members of their garrison first before looking at the aborigine. I will say that his coming to PDP and getting the ticket was not a tea party for him, money really exchange hands. But I will say that it is not yet uhuru, there are many more rivers to cross. If he wants to stay for four more years in office, he must be ready to fight because those he left in the APC are not pushovers. Oshiomhole and his team are still very much on ground
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