Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, on Saturday stated that in 2016, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, did not only pick the next state governor, he also picked the deputy governor, the Secretary to the State Government and also compiled the list of commissioners in his living room.
The Special Adviser to Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr Crusoe Osagie, who stated this in a release from the Government House in Benin, was reacting to a widely published interview granted by Oshiomhole on Friday.
Oshiomhole in the interview said he begged Obaseki to let him nominate only one commissioner in his successor’s government. Going by his statement, Oshiomhole was debunking allegations against him that he was playing the role of a godfather in the state.
But Saturday’s statement by the state government read, “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.”
The statement further read that “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.”
According to the statement, Buhari has since seen through Oshiomhole’s “mischief” and ordered the forensic audit of the NDDC and the “re-composition of the illegal board which Oshiomhole was trying to emplace.”
It added, “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.”
The statement quoted Obaseki as calling on the National Executive Committee of the APC to “do the needful and rescue the party from imminent implosion by setting Oshiomhole aside as the national chairman.”