A former ally of Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, Peter Esele said on Monday said he has no intention of joining the governor in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“As for me and my house, we are going nowhere. I will not be leaving the All Progressives Congress (APC),’’ Esele told journalists on Tuesday in Benin.
He argued that his decision to remain in the APC was borne out of collective interest, rather than fostering the interest of any individual.
The unionist said: “I have openly supported Mr. Obaseki on the ground that the crises he was engaged in affected the party as a whole.
“My stand is for the collective and not for the individual. While he has chosen to move on, I will remain and carry on working with the collective.”
He noted that being a card-carrying member of the APC was not “a walk in the park,” adding that most of the party’s challenges were self-inflicted.
“But we must never forget the importance of institutions in nation-building,” he added.
Esele, who vied for the APC governorship ticket with Obaseki in 2016, described the democratic process as an aspiration rather than “a ready-made state of affairs.”
Read also: EDO: SDP chairman denies receiving N65m to endorse Obaseki
He argued that in the pursuit of a better Edo State, the state’s democratic processes must continually make room for ideas to be contested but without violence.
“September 19 is almost here. It is up to us to make it count collectively.
“Politics in Edo State has been in a state of heightened animation and I have been reflecting on some particular emerging trends.
“I feel the need to share some of my musings, considering that I have been very vociferous about disputes in my party, the APC.
“I have made my views known about how the party was being run. This led to a disagreement with the former National Chairman, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole.
“My misgivings about power relations and party administrative processes have caused me disagreements in the past but I still insist that my comments are not based on personal bias but on my integrity.
“It is based on the principle that ‘an injury to one is an injury to all — the central ethic of the labour movement, which I believe encompasses all ethnic and religious divides,” Esele concluded.
Opinions