Jennifer Y Omiloli
Another confusion ensued the leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Edo State branch, as state Governor Godwin Obaseki launched another vitriolic attack on the party’s national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, on Saturday.
Obaseki, who responded to Oshiomhole’s published interview, in which he said he begged Obaseki to name only one commissioner in his cabinet, said the national chairman of the APC not only selected the next governor of the state, he also selected the deputy governor, the secretary to the government of the state, and also compiled the list of commissioners in his living room.
The governor’s reaction was disclosed in a statement released in Benin on Saturday by the Special Adviser to Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr Crusoe Osagie.
The statement in part: “We are once again forced to call the attention of members of the public to Oshiomhole’s ability to compulsively falsify the facts.
“The ease with which he lies, especially on issues that are public knowledge, underscores the content of his character and portends an existential threat to the survival of the APC and the impeccable integrity of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is forced to continuously engage with Oshiomhole, being the national chairman of his party.
“If indeed Oshiomhole appointed only Mika Amanokha to Governor Obaseki’s cabinet, why then did the former governor scream to the high heavens and embark on vitriolic media attacks against Obaseki when the governor reshuffled his cabinet, taking out some persons who were sabotaging the administration at the behest of Adams Oshiomhole. In fact, Oshiomhole compiled the list of those to be appointed commissioners in Edo in his sitting room in 2016. Asides from picking the governor, he also picked his deputy and the SSG.
“Oshiomhole, indeed, has not kept his dishonesty and inability to abide by due process and the provisions of the constitution to his destructive activities in Edo’s political space, he has exported it to the federal level of government, placing the Presidency under undue pressure and leading them to make decisions that run afoul of due process and the constitution.
“A case in point is the recent incident when the President was away from the country and Oshiomhole got top officials at the Presidency to approve the composition of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, made up of his cronies, apparently in violation of the existing rules.
“Uppermost on Oshiomhole’s mind was his desire to annex the NDDC and make it a slush fund from where he is expected to finance the political tension in Edo State towards possibly seizing control of the Edo State Government from Governor Obaseki.
“He did not care whether the rules were followed nor the integrity of the people being appointed. All he wanted was to achieve his aim and keep Edo State under his stranglehold as the new godfather.
“It has become clear that it is second nature to Oshiomhole to be dishonest, not to play by the rules and respect the authorities, making him dangerous to the survival of the APC”
