Edo PDP Needs A Unifier Like Uhomoibhi
By: Oriaifoh Godwins
As Edo prepares for the 2024 governorship election, all appears not to be well in the hitherto united, strong and formidable Edo Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Moreso, the speculated resolve of the incumbent governor of Edo state, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, to impose Asuen Ighodalo on the people of Edo state, has further compounded the problem for the party, as the negative body language of the few "Old PDP" members of the party is not pleasant at all.
The experience of the people of Edo state in the past almost 8 years of Governor Obaseki's administration, who was himself imposed on them by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has not been a palatable one. In view of this, a number of persons in the state, are against another imposition of candidate on the state.
Also, series of defections of members out of the PDP, may eventually make the Peoples Democratic Party to lose the state to either the All Progressives Party, APC, or the Labour Party, LP, that are patiently lying in wait for any miscalculation from the PDP.
In view of the acrimonies and resentments that has created different factions in Edo PDP, and seemingly torn the party apart, the party needs someone who can stand in the gap, someone who first of all, will appeal to Edo public, and secondly, will be accepted by the warring factions in the party.
The Edo PDP appears to be torn into three different factions; while one faction is loyal to Governor Godwin Obaseki, the second is loyal to Chief Dan Orbih, while the third, to Senator Odion Ugbesia. In the face of this, the only aspirant that that can stand in the gap, as a unifying force, is Ambassador Professor Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi, OFR.
Ambassador Professor Martin Uhomoibhi, the only aspirant with sterling qualities of all the 2024 gubernatorial aspirants irrespective of party affiliations, was a first class Foreign Diplomat who is recorded as the longest serving Permanent Secretary in the History of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria. He is an Oxford University trained Doctorate degree holder in History and International Relations.
From 1977 to 1984, Uhomoibhi was a lecturer in diplomatic and African history at the University of Ibadan. He began his diplomatic career in 1984 by joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Senior First Secretary. From 1993 to 1995, he served as coordinator and alternative representative of Nigeria to the Security Council in New York. From 1995 to 1999, Uhomoibhi served as Nigeria's Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. In 1999, he was the Consul-General of Nigeria in Atlanta, with responsibility for United States-Nigeria relations in the southeastern United States.
From 2000 to 2003, Uhomoibhi was Minister and Deputy Head of Mission to the Nigerian Embassy in Addis Ababa while he served as his country's representative to the African Union and to the Economic Commission for Africa. From July 2003 to January 2004, he was Deputy Director and Head of Division for Inter-African Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria. From 2004 to 2007, Uhomoibhi was the acting Director of the Office of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Then he became the Nigerian Ambassador to Switzerland and Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva. From September 2007, he was also the President of the General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization.
After his retirement from the civil service of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the longest Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in November 2014, Ambassador Martin opened an institute called Pan African Institute for Global Affairs and Strategy (PAIGAS) where he is the president.
On 28 October 2015, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma announced the appointment of Ambassador Professor Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi of Nigeria as their Joint Special Representative for Darfur and Head of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), with responsibilities including those of African Union-United Nations Joint Chief Mediator.
Ambassador Professor Martin Uhomoibhi’s acumen in the management of people, Financial and Material resources, his national and international network of connections, endears him to the people and also gives him an edge over and above any aspirant. Edo PDP must put its best foot forward to be able to retain the state in the upcoming 2024 governorship election and that best foot, for now, is
Ambassador Professor Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi, OFR.