The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, says his refusal to hand over keys to the state’s treasury when he became governor to Adams Oshiomhole, his predecessor in office and National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress was the root cause of the crisis between the two of them.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, the governor explained that while he believed in using the state resources to serve the people, Oshiomhole and his cronies believe it should be used to “carry them along.”
He said: “As a matter of fact, the political crisis in Edo State which has forced the likes of Iriase to address the press, is underlaid by the stellar performance of the governor which is made possible by the fact that he has refused to hand over the key to the treasury of Edo State to Comrade Oshiomhole, Iriase and their cronies.
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“Make no mistake, the crisis in Edo State has nothing to do with performance because there is no governor in Nigeria as we speak that has performed better than Governor Obaseki.
“The crisis is all about the control of the state’s resources. While Obaseki believes that these resources should be used to serve the people, Iriase and his likes believe it should be used to ‘carry them along,’ which is another euphemism for ‘graft.”
The crisis between Obaseki and Oshiomhole had yesterday taken a new twist as the Governor moved to arrest the APC Chairman, who was a former governor of the state.
Obaseki had submitted a petition to the Inspector-General of Police, and Department of State Services, DSS, calling for the arrest of the APC National Chairman for disobeying orders.