Over recent months, the PDP has been riveted with internal disputes with two separate factions claiming to be the authentic leadership of the party. Senator Makarfi had been at war with former Borno State governor Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, with both of them claiming to be the PDP chairman, having been elected at rival conferences.
Yesterday, however, Inec stepped into the debacle effectively throwing its weight behind Senator Makarfi by accepting Osagie Ize-Iyamu as the duly elected Edo State governorship candidate of the party. This put paid to the raging controversy over which of the two contending factions would field a candidate for election.
Mr Ize-Iyamu is the candidate of the Makarfi faction and by accepting him as the duly elected PDP nominee to run in the forthcoming election, Inec has thrown its weight behind one faction. While confirming receipt of the submission of Mr Ize-Iyamu’s name from the Makarfi-led faction, Inec's deputy director of publicity and voter education, Nick Dazang, said the commission had received names of 19 governorship candidates from 19 political parties, including Mr Ize-Iyamu from the PDP.
Mr Dazang added: “As at this evening, we received 19 candidates from 19 political parties for the upcoming Edo State governorship election, including the candidate of the Makarfi-led faction of the PDP. We received the candidate of the Makarfi-led faction because of the Port Harcourt court judgment plus the fact that we monitored its primary.”
A source within the ranks of the Sheriff faction admitted that they had suffered a setback with Inec opting to recognise Mr Ize-Iyamu as the PDP governorship candidate. Dayo Adeyeye, a spokesman for the PDP caretaker committee, then confirmed that the party had submitted the name of Mr Ize-Iyamu as the PDP candidate for the Edo State governorship election.
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