Ismail Abdulazeez Mantu Reporting
Deacon Darlington Okpebholo-Ray, the Lead Spokesman of Team Asue Media Organisation (TAMO) and Deputy Director of Diaspora Media for the PDP Asue/Ogie Campaign Organization, who is equally the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Truth Live Media Communications Ltd, owners of Truth Live News, has fiercely criticized the Legacy Group of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State.
The legacy group was accused of abandoning the principles of equity, justice, and fairness by refusing to support the PDP governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, in the recently concluded Edo State governorship election.
In an appearance on News Central Television on Tuesday evening, Okpebholo-Ray highlighted the tensions within the party that arose after the PDP’s governorship primaries in February 2024. He pointed out that members of the Legacy Group, who had previously championed equity in 2023 by supporting the APC’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, turned their backs on the party’s principles in Edo State.
According to Okpebholo-Ray, the internal discord began when some members of the Legacy Group opposed Ighodalo’s candidacy because their preferred candidate hailed from Oredo Local Government Area, the same zone as outgoing Governor Godwin Obaseki.
“As of the time we had our primaries on 22nd of February 2024, there was no longer legacy group. A number of them who felt disgruntled left and we remain with the Governor Obaseki. The Governor played his role as the leader of the party in Edo State. Everything cannot be the way everybody want it to be. This is politics and is about interests. One thing a lot of them don’t know is that politics is a matter of interest at a particular time and not every time. Everything cannot be the way you want it every time. So it’s give and take. This is what we felt it was good. The Governor followed it up and we all followed it up and we have no regret about it. We followed the Governor, we followed the party candidate Asue Ighodalo. I was part of the legacy group and we stayed through with him. So that being said, i don’t think we have any issue with that because a number of us who followed him did not think about whether legacy or no legacy group.
“What we looked at is that was it the turn of Edo Central?, yes. Is the party candidate from Edo Central?, yes. Is the Governor supporting the party’s candidate?, yes. And we went along with it. So the people you called legacy group didn’t want that. They wanted a candidate from the Edo South. They wanted someone who is from the same senatorial district, the same local government and the same ward with the incumbent Governor to take over from the Governor and we said no that cannot happen. We cannot allowed someone from Oredo local government to take over from the Governor who is leaving office and is from Oredo local government. So that was the battle we fought and we thought what is fair is fair when we talk about equity.
“Most of these people who fought against Atiku Abubakar in 2023 were the ones that came to Edo in 2024 and are singing a different tune. So my question for them is, if they fought against Atiku Abubakar and joined Wike in 2023 to say you are fighting for equity, justice and fairness that a Fulani man (Atiku) cannot be allow to takeover from a Fulani man (Buhari). We settled that, we fought that. We joined you an your group to support a Southerner which is current President Tinubu. We all felt that we must allow equity, justice and fairness to take place. Now those same people singing the song of equity, justice and fairness at the Federal level came to Edo and was doing totally against that same thing and i said no we cannot allow that to happen”.