The Edo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has placed all its gubernatorial aspirants on red alert, declaring that outgoing governor Godwin Obaseki lacks constitutional powers to swear in his successor.

This development was contained in a statement issued and signed by the party’s publicity scribe, Vasco Ogie, on Saturday.

In the statement, the party disagreed with Obaseki and stated that only the state’s Chief Judge has the absolute right to swear in his successor.

The statement reads, “The Edo chapter of PDP wishes to inform the general public and teeming supporters that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has published its timetable for the conduct of the Governorship election in Edo State in 2024. We call on all our intending aspirants to take note of the timelines of activities.

“On Friday, September 29, 2023, the Governor of Edo State, HE Godwin Obaseki, addressed journalists and expressed his desire to “finish strong” and swear in a successor on November 11th, 2024. We politely disagree here and make bold to state that it is the Chief Judge that has the constitutional duty to swear in who will succeed him.

‘The Governor further stated that, “It is not in my place to now determine, appoint, or anoint any successor but all I know is that in the process of seeking my successor, there must be fairness, equity, and a sense of inclusion because our goal is to keep Edo as one.

“On this, we agree completely with the Governor. Our only reservation on this is that he has NOT exhibited fairness, equity, and justice in conducting the affairs of government since his assumption of office.

“We hereby assure Edo people that the ideals of “fairness, equity, and a sense of inclusion” mentioned above are the hallmarks of the PDP which will not be lost in our quest to nominate a gubernatorial candidate in 2024, from amongst our committed and dedicated Party loyalists who have stood by the Party all these years. Our nominee will be a candidate acceptable to all Edo people. The guidelines of the Party will be strictly adhered to in nominating the candidate.

“While we await the publication of the guidelines for activities from the National Working Committee, we assure all our party faithful that we shall conduct a free and fair process to pick a candidate in February 2024,” the party said. (Vanguard)