Erstwhile national chairman of All Progressives
Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has waded into the ongoing war
between Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and his predecessor,
Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public/Political Affairs, Chief Ray Murphy, Oyegun said;
“Governor Godwin Obaseki must be allowed to operate freely as a Chief Executive Officer of the state. I cannot fathom why the most virulent opposition to Obaseki is from his own party and not the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.”
“This party must be stronger because we cannot go into the 2023 general elections with these discordant tunes, especially as President Buhari will not be contesting. We need to get our acts together. Oyegun has no personal grievances with Oshiomhole but Nigerians must know that he cannot go to equity with unclean hands.”
“Today, there are all kinds of rancour coming from Edo State. They all boil down to attempts by a godfather and godfatherism that is heating up the polity in the state.”
“Obaseki is the executive governor of Edo State and he should be allowed to exercise the powers vested in him by the law. To what purpose is this idea of APC chairman putting the state under tension? Oshiomhole showing bias, needs to hear from all parties before taking sides.”
“As a governor on APC platform, he should be allowed to run out his tenure before they decide whether to bring him back or not. There are so much antics going on and you don’t need to be a prophet or babalawo to trace where they are coming from. They are coming from APC.”
“I want to think that they are all targeted at weakening the governor of Edo State. Ordinarily, the man in Edo should be given every support so that he can succeed to fend off the opposition PDP already around the corner.”
“Ask anybody from Edo State, what is Obaseki’s biggest distraction and they will tell you that his distraction is not whether he has governed well or not, but from his immediate predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole.”
“It is very unfortunate, especially considering the fact that he is the national chairman of the same party with the governor. I have not heard that PDP or Edo leaders want to remove Obaseki. What has been trending is how his predecessor, who happens to be the party chairman, does not want him back in office.”
“If his action against Obaseki are not anti-party, someone should then explain to me what is anti-party. The problem of APC is from a single man, the national chairman, who runs the party like an executive chairman.”
“The idea of working single-handedly and inducing the party members to endorse is the problem of the party. Look at what is happening in the party today. When was the last time the NEC meeting was held? But when these crises came to the fore, he has called several emergency NWC meetings.”