We buried PDP in Edo many years ago – Oshiomhole

The Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on Friday took a swipe on the Peoples Democratic Party, describing it as a party “buried” by the All Progressives Congress in Edo many years ago.

President Jonathan and Oshiomhole

Governor Oshiomhole made this known when the APC officially received a former Minister of State for Works, Engineer Chris Ogiemwonyi, and over 2,000 other defectors, including 25 palace chiefs, into the fold of the party.

The former minister was presented with the official membership card of the party by the State Chairman, Anselm Ojezua, in company of other party leaders and legislators from the state and federal levels.

Oshiomhole said that the desire of the APC to create a change at the federal level was spurred by the evidence of development in the various sectors of Edo and others states under the party.

On the employment, the governor said that no fewer than 29,000 youths had been employed by the state government, while staff salaries were promptly paid.

He said, “If anybody imagine what has happened in this state in six years, then you can better calculate how much they stole from the treasury of this state and how many miles they set us backwards in terms of where we are supposed to be.

“That is why when the President said that Edo will fall, I said, ‘Well, who is speaking? Can a man who is on the ground speak to a man who is on his feet? PDP has already fallen and buried in Edo State many years ago.

“Federal PDP shared money to PDP states, including where the president lost election. They did not give one dime to the people of Edo State because we voted wrongly.

“In Auchi, erosion has swept away more than 50 per cent of the houses and killed several others. They shared the ecology money but gave no dime to the people of Auchi.”

While commending the people of the state for embracing change in the state, the governor urged them to ensure that their votes counted in the 2015 presidential elections in order to end the leadership of the PDP at the centre, as they did in Edo in 2007.

“If you carry this logic to the next level, we will remove them from Abuja the way we remove them from Benin,” he said.

The governor described the former minister’s defection as a move motivated by a sheer desire to join a progressive political machinery that was in business only for the purpose of adding value to the lives of Edo people, having been concerned about the failed past and inspired by the positive development of the moment.

He said that Engineer Ogiemwonyi’s membership came at a time when the party had begun to “filter out those who represent the forces of darkness and politics of share the money” in order to establish the politics of “develop the state and uplift the people.”

Earlier Ogiemwonyi, who noted that his defection followed from 18 months of consultation, said that he decided to join the APC in other to contribute to the development of the state.

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We buried PDP in Edo many years ago – Oshiomhole