Ize-Iyamu who was a governorship candidate of the PDP in 2016, dumped the party with hundreds of his supporters for APC late last year, in a move many said was to enable him re-contest the governorship on the platform of his new party.

Some also alleged the national chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, lured Ize-Iyamu to the APC with the sole aim of using him to cripple the re-election ambition of his political godson, Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Orbih, however, alleged that those who left the party did so in confusion because they were not accepted in their new home.

“I want to use this opportunity to clear some issues that I know are bothering you. Today, I can safely say that those few people who left us for APC are now in political purgatory.

“They are not in hell, they are not in heaven, they are not in PDP, they are not in APC,” he said.

Orbih appealed to party members and the electorate to make the right decision in the forthcoming governorship election by choosing a PDP candidate “because of the abysmal failure of the APC led government in almost all sectors of the economy in the state.”

This is even as he faulted alleged attempt by APC leaders in the state to dissociate themselves from what he called failures of the APC government in the state, adding that the party should admit its failure.

“They admitted that the APC government in Edo State has failed, but they now want to situate it on the personality of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

“Who brought Obaseki? Adams Oshiomhole. Can we separate Obaseki from Oshiomhole? No.

“So it is clear that APC in Edo state has failed. In their failure, they must admit and accept that their time is up,” he said.

In his speech, the Chairman of Edo North PDP Leaders Forum, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, urged the people of Owan West to eschew bitterness of the past and work together.

He also canvassed for the position of the Deputy Governor be zoned to Edo North, like APC had done.

He said:“Let us forget about what happened in the past, let us work together so that our children can enjoy what we labour for. We need to forgive ourselves in whatever way we might have offended ourselves because there is a better tomorrow.

“When Adams Oshiomhole came, we said he was one of our sons, we struggled for him, but they have always manipulated their way. In spite of that, we have always won and we will continue to win.

“We are working hard to get Senators and House of Representatives’ members for the party and we will succeed, especially in this election.”