“Who’s your father?”: Obaseki blasts Wike, calls out Rivers governor on presidential ambition

Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki struck out at his party man and colleague Nyesom Wike for despising Edo’s No. 2 citizen Phillip Shaibu.

In an outburst many will not push past him, Wike called Shaibu, asking who his father is—for threatening the Edo PDP that has been writhing in internal crisis for about two years, after Obaseki and his sidekick hopped, cap in hand, into the PDP.

Obaseki, in a statement he personally signed on Monday, said that it was surprising that Wike could resort to personal attacks on Shaibu without reaching out to him (Obaseki) as colleague-governors before his public outburst.

In the statement titled, ‘Obaseki to Wike: PDP is not your personal property, Edo cannot be procured’, Obaseki described Wike’s attack as “most unfortunate and totally uncalled for”.

“No one is against his desire to run for president, however, his ambition should not be embarked on in such a way that it would cause disruption at different levels, such as the PDP Governors’ Forum as well as different chapters of the party across the country.

“It clearly amounts to delusion of grandeur, for any one man to nurse the idea that he owns or has more stake in the PDP and everyone should pander to him.

“We are all equal stakeholders in the party and an aggregate of the ideas, opinions, and contributions of all leaders and members should form the position of the party and not the view of one individual or a select few.

“While Governor Wike is free to use his resources as he deems fit in pursuit of his ambition, he should not attempt to cow, intimidate, cajole and threaten others into doing his bidding. Edo State cannot and will not be procured for anyone’s personal ambition,” the statement read in part.

Furthermore, Obaseki while exonerating Shaibu, noted that it was “Wike, who has at different times, threatened the PDP”.

He listed the instances to include: “On September 16, 2018, Governor Wike threatened the party that there would be grave consequences if it moved the National Convention from Port Harcourt in the run-up to the 2019 presidential election.

“On September 12, 2019, Governor Wike also threatened to cause trouble for the party over the emergence of Hon. Ndudi Elumelu as the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.”

Wike has always loved to swing his clout in the party, knocking down anybody standing in his way, and has so far demolished many strongholds, including the party’s former chairman Uche Secondus.