The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the feud
between the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomole, and the Edo State
Governor, Godwin Obaseki, is a local and not a national issue.
The relationship between the two has been frosty for some
time, but worsened in recently when the governor, in a veiled reference to the
party chairman at a rally organised by various support groups in Benin
last week, dared Abuja politicians to
invade the state.
At the weekend, the governor alleged that the crisis in the
state House of Assembly was the handiwork of somebody who wanted to use the
lawmakers to control him.
Obaseki, who spoke through his Deputy, Philip Shaibu, when
the House of Representatives ad hoc committee members assigned the
responsibility of resolving the Edo State House of Assembly crisis visited the state, also said the inauguration
of 7th Edo Assembly followed due process, adding that other lawmakers-elect
decided to remain in Abuja and were not available for inauguration.
The governor noted that the current crisis was history
repeating itself, as 15 PDP lawmakers also cried to the National Assembly in
2010 for possible takeover of the Edo State House of Assembly.
He said he was following the path of Oshiomhole, who taught
them to fight godfathers and use the money to work for the people, insisting
there was no going back on the crusade against godfatherism, said some demands
of the lawmakers-elect could only be resolved if they were sworn-in.
According to him, “What we have here is somebody trying to
use the house to control the executive. We feel that we have fought
godfatherism. Oshiomhole led us to a strong fight to rescue the state from the
hands of godfathers in 2006.
“We have joined the crusade Oshiomhole started in 2007. We
will not go back on the crusade because it is helping Edo people. We can now
galvanise the people because they can see roads, they can see schools and
infrastructure."
It was reported yesterday that the raging disagreement
between Obaseki and his estranged benefactor, Oshiomhole, might have finally
come to a head, with the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) said to be making quiet overtures to Obaseki to get him
to defect.
But in a seeming counter offensive, a section of the
governing APC in the state is alleged to be making frantic moves to poach a
prominent businessman and philanthropist, Captain Hosa Okunbo, as a choice that
could undo Obaseki’s calculations in his bid to secure re-election.
However, the National Publicity Secretary of the party,
Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, said that the disagreement between Oshiomole and
Obaseki is a local issue.
Asked what the national leadership of the party is doing to
mediate between the two, he noted,
"It is not an issue for the national, anything that
involves Obaseki is a state matter. So, it is the people around Obaseki that
can answer that question. The national chairman is an individual and he's from
Edo state, so it is a local matter even though he is the national
chairman."
Meanwhile, a chieftain of the party who preferred anonymity
said that Obaseki is not joining PDP.
The source added that while he wasn't too familiar with the
governor, he can say authoritatively that the governor is not defecting to the
opposition party.
The source stressed that had it been the Board of Trustee
(BoT) of the ruling party has been constituted, it would have intervened in the
matter and other cases like that.
Asked when the party would constitute the Board, he noted;
"under normal circumstance, the national chairman ought to have
constituted the board,but the situation is not normal."
The party chieftain also disagreed with the National
Organising Secretary, Barr. Emma Ibediro, who said the priority of the National
Working Committee (NWC) of the path was to ensure that President Muhammadu
Buhari, was reelected as the president and the party retains power.
According to the party chieftain, "Which is more
difficult, to win power from the incumbent or to win reelection? The party is
not making progress, Buhari won with 15 million votes in 2016, he won with 15
million votes in 2019. We had 24 states in 2015, we have 19 states, the party
is not making progress."
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