A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Stanley Osifo, has said the crises rocking the party in state could hamper the chances of the party in the 2020 governorship election.
Accordingly, he has appealed to the warring parties: Governor Godwin Obaseki and the party national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to sheath the swords and forge a united bond in the interest of the party.
“Everybody is worried and I am worried as well and sad about what’s going on. I had a meeting with people in the state, talking about how things can be resolved and I discovered that a lot of people are not happy on both sides.
“If you talk to the people on the side of the governor, they will express displeasure over what’s happening, likewise those in the other side. What I strongly believe is that there should be a peace, understanding and reconciliation ground to come together and unite again.
“Because I tell you when a house is divided against itself, it cannot really stand. So we need a united house.
“Whatever the case is, sometimes when things happen and you don’t handle it properly and you allow sentiment to override your sense of judgement or get carried away by the support that come from a particular set of people, then there is bound to be a problem,” he said.
On what should be done to forge ahead, he said: “What is going on right now is not supposed to be. It behoves on the leadership of the party to call everyone together and see how we can resolve this issue and talk to ourselves so that the party can be united and strong for 2020 election.
“It will not be nice for us to be fighting ourselves while the opposition is looking for how to gain ground. That is not good and is not going to be something that we wish for ourselves.
“The governor is leader of the party in the state and the national chairman, they are both in the same party from the same state, they should come together and call all their supporters to see how reconciliation can take place.
“Politics is about give and take, is about negotiations, lobbying. It’s not about fighting most time, because fighting can be destructive not just to the fighter alone but to the people and to the party itself. So we need to come together and manage things as far as Edo state is concerned.”
