PDP Hosts Widows … Shares Bags Of Rice, But Denies Political Motives

By Oladipo Airenakho

Edo State branch of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) recently hosted some widows in the state with a lavish give-away of bags of rice to those present at the Party’s secretariat in Benin City.

But in what looked like a pre-emptive action, the party’s chairman, Chief Dan Orbih who presided over the event told the press that the decision of the party to host the widows was devoid of political motives, dousing speculations that it amounted to material inducements.

It was the second time that the party was hosting widows in the state, the first being 2013.

Each bag of rice had President Goodluck Jonathan’s name and picture imprinted on it, making it hard to believe that it was not politically motivated in an electioneering year in the country.

According to Dan Orbih: “some people last year (2013) said it was politics. They said people should watch whether we will be able to continue it, but today we have been able to prove them wrong.’’

Orbih’s statement in that regard was a reference to the political jibes from All Progressives Congress (APC) that his party would not be able to keep it up like Governor Adams Oshiomhole was doing with some widows.

It would be recalled that in 2013, Governor Adams Oshiomhole had compensated a widow, Mrs. Joy Ifije whose wares, out of anger he ordered seized and told to “go and die” during an inspection tour of a market where she had been trading on the sidewalk against the law on street trading in the state.

Following public outcry that went viral on both conventional and social media and the realization of a fault in his action against the widow, the Governor personally and publicly apologized to her and even subsequently held a program to assist as many widows in the state as possible.

He also donated N2 million to her with an offer of a position in his government as Special Assistant on Environmental Issues.

The opposition party, PDP in the state had cashed in on the opportunity presented by the situation to come into the lives of widows in the state who until then nobody knew existed.

The party derided the Governor’s action as being an afterthought, and branded him wicked. It went ahead and offered the affected woman N250, 000.00 which the state government saw as a ploy for political propaganda and gains.