Wike has asked Orbih and Ogbeide-Ihama to be ready to fully refund the money they collected from his COS in hard currency Thursday this week in Portharcourt, for the statutory delegates who were billed to vote for consensus aspirants of Orbih's camp at the Sunday and Monday primaries in Edo State.
Each statutory delegate in the list endorsed by Wike himself were to get the equivalent of one thousand US dollars each on Sunday and Monday, respectively; making it two thousand dollars per statutory delegate.
According to a source Wike who was privy of the party's decision on the exclusion of statutory delegates, has threatened to report the matter to the Inspector General of Police, if Orbih fails to return the statutory delegates money in the manner and form it was received.
The reason for Wike's anger is not far-fetched. It is an upshot of a claim made by Orbih via a text message to the Rive Governor that he had spent two hundred thousand US dollars from the statutory delegates money to mobilize the procurement of an order from the Court of Appeal to stay the execution of the judgment delivered by the Court on Wednesday this week in respect of the ad hoc delegates. The move to stay the execution of the judgment late on Friday did not go through.
Sources claim that Wike had through his contact to grant Orbih's men permission to appeal against the interlocutory injunction issued by and the order was granted by the court. The source added that the grouse of Wike is that Orbih is now claiming to have spent the said amount of money meant for delegates for an order that was personally handled by his proxy in Abuja.
Reconciliatory moves with Obaseki...
A source close to the NGFsay there are ongoing moves to settle the misunderstanding between the Edo and Rivers, as it has become clear to majority of the PDP Governors thatOrbih, his brother Ferdinand and Ogbeide-Ihama are reaping heavy financial benefits from the rift, which is believed to have been triggered by Orbih himself. Wike who confided in a PDP Governor from a North Central State said he now prefers to reconcile with Obaseki than to be defrauded repeatedly by people who at the moment have no concrete electoral benefit to offer.
It will be recalled that the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) resolved late Friday that only the recently elected 3 ad hoc delegates per ward and one national delegate per local government will participate in the primaries of the party.
In a document made available to the media and signed by Hon. Umar M. Bature,
National Organizing Secretary of the PDP it was stated that. By virtue of Section 84(8) of the Electoral Act, 2022, delegates to vote at the Indirect Primaries and National Convention of political parties to elect candidates for elections shall be those democratically elected for that purpose only.
Consequently those qualified and eligible to vote as delegates in the forthcoming Primaries and National Convention of our great Party, the PDP are the three (3) ad hoc delegates per ward, elected at the Ward Congresses and one (1) National Delegate per Local Government, elected at the Local Government Area Congresses.
Furthermore, the NWC wishes to inform our Party members that the State Houses of Assembly Primaries to elect our State House of Assembly candidates, earlier scheduled for Saturday, May 21, 2022 will now hold on Sunday, May 22, 2022 from 8:00am to 12 noon; while the House of Representatives Primaries to elect our House of Representatives candidates will also hold on Sunday May 22, 2022 from 2pm.
