Certificate of Returns: Theatre Of The Absurd In Edo PDP, Says Ugbome
By The9JaTREND
The Edo North Senatorial Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming 2023 election, Barr. Paschal Ugbome, said the presentation of Certificate of Returns to the 36 National and State legislative assemblies by the Governor Godwin Obaseki’s faction was an Home Video meant for Nollywood.
Barr. Ugbome, who emerged the senatorial candidate of the Dan Orbih led faction of the party made the remarks while reacting to the issuance of Certificate of Returns to candidates of the factional members of the party in Benin City.
Recall, that on the 31st August, 2022, the State chairman of the party, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi presented Certificate of Returns to 24 House of Assembly Candidates, 9 House of Representatives candidates and 3 Senatorial Candidates that emerged at the primaries elections conducted by the Governor Obaseki led faction of the party.
Barr. Ugbome said the members of the party who are laying claim as the authentic candidates for the various elective positions should wait for the outcome of the supreme court instead of being in a hurry to issue and receive Certificate of Returns.
“Ordinarily, what happened on Wednesday should not attract the attention of serious minded persons but then, this is politics, people can get carried away by things that are not supposed to get them excited.
“The interesting thing is that, we are in court and some of the processes were instituted mostly by the (Obaseki’s faction) and we (Dan Orbih faction) also instituted some of the processes and as we talk now, there is no basis for what they did.
“It is even contemptuous of the judicial process but one is not perturbed because when people are desperate, they can do anything, they can go to any length to make themselves feel happy.
“It is an attempt for them to also continue to hold onto their supporters who already know that they are holding onto straw.
“One of the matters has gone to the Supreme Court and one wonders why they can’t wait for the process to run its course. And, looking at the documentation, I saw that the document was signed on the 6th of June, 2022 thereabout by the National Chairman and other National Officers of PDP and thereafter on the 30th of June, the same National Officers signed a letter in compliance with the Court Order telling INEC that we are the authentic candidates,” he said.
While reacting to his own candidacy, Barr. Ugbome said his own case was peculiar and worrisome because his own position was superimposed with a candidate who was in the All Progressives Congress (APC but cross-carpeted to the PDP in the eleventh hour.
“I have a situation of an attempt to supplant popular mandate that I got by PDP delegates. I am dealing with an APC man. By the time they were gifting him with my ticket, he was in APC.
“It is just totally incongruous with the situation we are having in our hands. As a human being, I don’t see why I should be desperate”, he said.
He opined that whatever is happening in the party at the moment will help to deepen democracy and that it is bound to happen.
“It is the court that will determine who are the real candidates of the party and those who are not,” the legal luminary emphasised.
He warned the party not to take the grace of God for granted but should do all it could to put its house together and face the main opposition party (APC) in the state in order to win all the seats in the forthcoming elections.
