When the embattled chairman of the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr Anthony Aziegbemi signed a statement last week condemning the judgement of the Abuja high court presided over by Honourable Justice Inyang Ekwo which pronounced the candidates loyal to the legacy PDP and Chief Dan Orbih as the authentic and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to recognise them, many political watchers wondered where Aziegbemi derived his powers from to make such an uninformed statement.
Barely a week after Azigbemi`s obviously warped and disjointed press release, the State NW has come out to dissociate itself from the statement signed by the chairman and was seen being circulated by his aide on some selected WhatsApp platforms as it considered such a press statement as an affront and aberration to the Judiciary.
In a Press statement on Tuesday, entitled; “Edo State PDP Restates Absolute Faith In The Judiciary”, signed by the State Publicity Secretary, Mr Ogie Aigbe Vasco and sent to Truth Live News, the State Working Committee expressly asserted that it did not authorise such statement and consequently condemned it and align itself with the judicial pronouncement.
Read the full text of the press statement below;
The attention of the State Working Committee has been drawn to a certain “PRESS STATEMENT” making the rounds in social media purportedly signed by Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, Chairman of the PDP Edo State Chapter. The purported “PRESS STATEMENT”, if signed by him, is an aberration as well as an affront to the Judiciary and to the office of the Honourable Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Consequently, having reviewed the puerile display in the said publicity, we wish to state as follows:
- The State Working Committee has not, did not and will not issue or authorize any statement to be issued with regards to the State Congresses and Primaries which were duly conducted by the Party in April and May of 2022, because a section of the Party chose to go to court to challenge the actions of the Party. Consequently, all the contentious issues are being adjudicated in various Courts, and are therefore subjudice. It is unlawful to issue any statements, concerning the cases, at this time.
- The SWC did not hold any meeting to deliberate on these issues and no official of the party is therefore authorized to issue any statements in this regard. The SWC hereby dissociates the entire Party Executive Committee and Party Structure at the Local Government and Ward levels, from the said Press Statement.
- The “PRESS STATEMENT” is therefore unnecessary, unauthorized and unlawful. We urge all Party faithful, teeming Edo PDP supporters, Edo people and the general public to ignore the chants of the statement.
- We urge all Party faithful and supporters to patiently await the outcomes of the various Court processes, in the immediate future. The wheels of justice, they say, grind slowly, but exceedingly well. Our trust in the Judiciary remains unshaken and we firmly believe that Justice shall prevail.
More to follow…