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  • Edo APC crisis: Why Obaseki is at war with me – Oshiomhole

    Edo APC crisis: Why Obaseki is at war with me – Oshiomhole

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has given more insight into the lingering crisis in the Edo state chapter of the party, saying he made several attempts to reconcile Governor Godwin Obaseki with party leaders in the state to avoid mass defection.

    He said all his efforts were apparently his major sin against the governor, dismissing allegations of godfatherism against him.

    Oshiomhole said he made frantic efforts to get party leaders in the state not to leave the party because of the way Obaseki was treating them, adding that the allegations of his trying to play godfather was only in the imagination of those saying it.

    Chief Press Secretary to Oshiomhole, Simon Egbuebulem quoted the APC Chairman and said that if he wanted to play godfather as being alleged, he would have nominated all commissioners for Obaseki after his election, adding that he only pleaded with him to accept one commissioner who has worked for him since 2006

    The former Edo State Governor said “As part of my efforts to resolve the problems in Edo state, there was a time the governor told me that he will not have anything to do with Charles Idahosa because he lost his booth during his own governorship election and so what is his electoral value?

    “It is here in my living room that I invited Idahosa. He did not know the governor was coming. I invited the governor and he did not know Idahosa was coming. When the governor entered the room, Idahosa sat down and said he was not going to have a handshake with him.

    He used a language that, for me was derogatory. I said no, Charles you cannot talk like that. This is the governor and you must respect him. And I say, governor please whatever Charles has done that you are not happy about, we have won, put them behind you.

    “I said in this business, if you don’t work with people because of their electoral value, sometimes you work with them because of their nuisance value. So you will not gain by saying you won’t work with this one or that one.

    “If you ask Rev. Egharevba, I got to know that he was not participating in APC activities because of the way the governor was treating them. I drove to his house and I said Rev, I met you in this party, so why are you leaving the party now. They were in ACN then before I came to form an alliance with them.

    “He said you introduced this man to us and look at the way he is treating everybody now. I said okay, with time he will change. I now asked him, in any case, Reverend, you are living the house for who.

    “Those in government are the tenants in power. The landlords are the members in the party and the leaders. They are the owners of the party and it is the party that produced the governor. So if you are not happy with the governor and you are running away because of the governor, are you leaving your own house for a tenant. This tenant’s maximum stay is eight years tenancy, but your party membership can be for life.

    “In most democracies, those who are members of the Labour party remain Labour there for life, those who are Democrats or Republicans, remain there for life. But they will produce Presidents both the good the bad and the ugly. But the party remains.

    “But when they produce a President or Senator that they don’t like, in the next election the review their choice. I am happy, you can see that today, he now attends party meetings. He told me his frustrations, but I said they are not enough. He blamed me that ooh you introduced this man to me, I said yes but I am human.

    Speaking further, the APC Chairman said “Prince Eweka came here and said I should beg the governor, that they are cousins but he is not treating him well. I told the governor please he is an elder. I have known Prince Eweka for long. He was at a point Vice Chairman.

    “I can mention names of people who I stopped from leaving the party by making peace and resolving their problem with the governor. So when people talk about my group, I ask them who is not my group. Is Obaseki not my group? Who is in the party that is with him that is opposed to me?

    “The only problem is that he says there are people he cannot stand. But I said to him, it is difficult in this business to pick and choose. Learn from our President. Our President was candidate on ANPP platform at a point. He had his reasons for living ANPP and forming CPC.

    “But we all came to realize that at the end of the day, for anyone to be President of Nigeria, you must have a party with a spread and the more spread the party has, the more you have characters that on a good day you may not even want to talk to. But the logic of numbers means that you must embrace all. But somehow he just refused.

    “My own embarrassment is when they say, Oshiomhole wants to be like a godfather. If I wanted to be, then I will be nominating Commissioners. I only persuaded him to accept one Commissioner from me, only one and I gave my reasons and that was because Mika was a founding member of my campaign organization in 2006.

    “Other than Mika, I did not nominate any Commissioner; I did not nominate any Special Adviser, Special Assistance because, for me, these are governance issues. So where is the godfather from?

    “I think as a brother and to be honest, I regard the governor as my brother and a very close friend and what I owe him is to assist where he wants me to. To help him make peace with anyone who he has issues with.

    “You people forgot when the governor went to Uhumwonde. That is the peak of his crisis with Idahosa and he said as the governor, he is going to take the leadership in Uhumwonde because the place is his ancestral home.

    “And now he is going to do special development in Uhumwonde and that he is not going to do it with politicians because the politicians Uhumwonde has produced has never worked for the development of Uhumwonde. And so he is going to set up special development Committee not made up of politicians but community leaders.

    “So he will relate with the community leaders and not politicians. But I advised him by all means, relate with community leaders, but don’t exclude party leaders because their roles are not the same.

    “Again it is a bit of exaggeration to blame politicians for the none development of a Local Government because to my recollection, Uhumnwonde has not produced a governor, besides it is not the only under developed Local Government Area.

    “The entire state was under developed until we intervened. You can do what you want to do without antagonizing the party leaders there. That statement is on record; it is in print.

    “So I know that in my heart of hearts, the difficulties I have is that when people have told me as they did, that we don’t know this man, he does not know us, he does not attend meetings and I said to them don’t worry he will get to know you and mingle with you. So vote for him.

    “I told him whatever you want to do in governance do, but when it comes to party leaders my brother be careful. For us, we are helping to make sure the party is strong when people talk about godfather, I said bull shit. I have no interest in running government.”

  • ‘Governors plotting to oust Oshiomhole, crown Yari as APC chair’

    Former lawmaker representing Zamfara East Senatorial District, Kabir Marafa has said some governors are plotting to replace Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with AbdulAziz Yari, former governor of Zamfara state.

    Marafa made the statement while speaking with journalists in Zamfara on Friday.

    Marafa alleged that the governors are out to take control of the structures of the ruling party. He added that they are indirectly targetting President Muhammadu Buhari with the aim to make the president and his supporters politically irrelevant before the 2023 general election.

    Marafa, however, refused to disclose the identities of the governors.

    Marafa said: “The fight is not against Oshiomole, it is actually against the president himself. It is only that they don’t have the guts to say it now, but they will when the time is ripe.

    “It is evident that the plot to unseat Comrade Adams Oshiomole by a gang of President Buhari’s adversaries has thickened. This plot is merely aimed at hijacking the party structures and handing it over to Yari – who till now is the arrowhead of all the people that harbour a lot of bitterness against the president.

    “The Governors in concert with their cronies, within and outside the party, are doing everything possible to hijack the party structures to ensure that the president and his sympathisers are edged out of power equation in 2023.”

    Marafa asked the president to be wary of Yari, citing instances in the past where he (Yari) “acted against Buhari”.

    “Yari and his co-travelers’ stock in trade is treachery and backstabbing. The earlier the president and his men realizes it and act accordingly, the better for them and the party itself,” he said.

    “Remember 2003 when the president and his party the ANPP lost the general election? While the president and his men were nursing the wound of losing the election, one of the ANPP Governors now a major pillar of Yari’s support and collaborator, was sighted on national television cutting PDP Victory cake in the Villa! That is how all of them are.

    “All these machinations are geared toward hijacking the party or bouncing back to relevance and once that is done, the party’s future is doomed. President Buhari should buckle up to save the party from falling into the hands of his adversaries in his own best interest, the interest of the party, and that of the nation in general.

    “The party is built on justice, equity and fairness and that will surely be eluded if the likes of Yari are allowed to succeed. Make no mistake sir, those asking for Oshiomhole’s head today, are actually looking for your jugular.”

    Recall that the clash between Marafa and Yari made the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to take control of Zamfara, which was a stronghold of the APC.

  • Edo APC crisis: Oshiomhole receives Ize-Iyamu, says Obaseki not ready for settlement

    The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Adams Oshiomhole, on Friday said that Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo was not ready for amicable resolution of the crisis rocking the party in the state.

    Oshiomhole made this known while briefing newsmen in Benin shortly after receiving Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu in his residence in Benin

    Oshiomhole said “the governor has been refusing and avoiding an all-inclusive meeting where all issues would have been tabled and resolved.

    “Four governors volunteered to attend the meeting but he has consistently refused to attend the meeting.

    “The only way to iron out issues is to sit down and listen to complaints.

    “He should not worry about the ticket but how to win the heart of Edo people.

    “The name of the game is persuasion not violence.

    “The men whose cars were burnt yesterday will never vote for them again. It is unheard of to refuse somebody into your party; politic is a game of numbers,” he said.

    According to Oshiomhole, l have said it before that the deputy governor is doing damage to his principal.

    “I have to pay the price by staying away from the APC rally,” he said.

    The APC Chairman explained that he avoided the rally so that some persons would not have any excuse to go and kill people and blame it on him.

    “We will not go to their level; blood for blood is not our mantra,” he added.

    The South South Vice chairman of the Party, Mr Hillard Etta, while presenting Ize-Iyamu to the national chairman of the party, said he was delighted to welcome lze-lyamu back to the party.

    “I never imagined that one day I will be performing this function because lze-lyamu was my boss. I did not see this coming,” he said.

    Also speaking, Pastor Ize-Iyamu thanked the national and state leadership of APC for welcoming him back home.

    Ize-Iyamu said “l have always said that l am not coming to cause confusion in APC but to come and join in strengthening the house l helped to build.”

  • Edo APC crisis: Oshiomhole clears air on alleged house arrest, calls self ‘he-goat’

    Edo APC crisis: Oshiomhole clears air on alleged house arrest, calls self ‘he-goat’

    National chairman of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has debunked reports that he was placed under house arrest and also described himself as the ‘he-goat’ of Edo politics.

    Oshiomhole spoke Friday afternoon, while addressing journalists at his Benin GRA residence, where Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, a new APC convert from the PDP, was presented to him by Hillard Etta, the national vice chairman (south-south) of the party.

    A rally to receive Iyamu into the APC fold had held earlier, in a venue different from the one police disapproved.

    Oshiomhole did not attend the rally.

    He said he was not surprised he was the butt of attacks by some within the party, because, like the proverbial he-goat, he will always be at the receiving end of the party’s crisis in the state.

    “I saw that they write a story from the Government House that I’m under house arrest. You can see, either way, they want to make me look like the proverbial he-goat.

    “In the traditional Nigerian society, when the family child is sick, and you go and consult the traditional native doctor, he will ask them to sacrifice a he-goat, so that witches and wizards will not kill the child.

    “On the hand, when a baby is born or they are celebrating birthday or something good is happening to the family, they get a he-goat, they slaughter and celebrate. So, either way, the he-goat is in trouble.

    “God knows my heart, and he will help me and he has been helping me. We will sustain the governance of this state under the APC, with Edo people as our principals and our ultimate employers, and to them, we are grateful for the support they have given us in spite of any weaknesses we have,” Oshiomhole said.

    Oshiomhole said he stayed away from Ize-Iyamu’s rally to sustain the peace of the party.

    “Our party doesn’t believe in rigging, certainly not in this state. We have entrenched the culture of one-man-one-vote, and the name of the game is not threat, the name of the game is persuasion. That day, everybody is equal,” he said.

    Oshiomhole who blamed the state Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, for the crisis rocking the state chapter of the party, however noted that the real victim of the crisis will be Governor Godwin Obaseki.

    “The real man who is the executioner of violence is Philip Shaibu, but he doesn’t understand that the real damage is to his Principal, and his Principal is not able to see through their own frustration,” he said.

    He however insisted that members of the party must work to sustain peace.

    “There will be peace. Today we have tested that, but I wasn’t there, which shows that this peace is not in the hands of one man. Once the party below is united, that is what matters and that is what we have displayed today, where people from all parts of the state came with one objective, to welcome people into the party.

    “You have tension when you find out that the local party members are fighting each other, because, party membership, you can remain there as long as you obey the rules of the party.

    “There is no limit for being a member of APC, but there is limit for being chairman, there is limit for being governor and there is limit to the tenure of being president, but there is no limit for being a member.

    “So, once the members are united and comfortable, we will sustain the path of peace. That is why I opted not to go there today,” he said.

  • [BREAKING] APC crisis: Gov. Obaseki bans political rallies in Edo

    [BREAKING] APC crisis: Gov. Obaseki bans political rallies in Edo

    Edo State Government has placed a total and complete ban on all political rallies, demonstrations or procession in any part of the state.

    It directed all security agencies to deal firmly with all persons, no matter how highly placed who breached the directive.

    A statement signed by Secretary to the Edo State Government, Barr. Osarodion Ogie, said the state government has made clear it’s position clear that the ‘plans by som identified mischief-makers to organise an unauthorised political rally in Bénin City was capable of leading to a breakdown of public peace and also danger to the persons and property of Edo citizens.’

    The statement warned property owners that any venue which is used for activities in breach of this order shall have its right of occupancy immediately revoked and forfeited to the state government.

    Ogie said the state government would not allow any persons turn the state into a battlefield.

    Read Also; Obaseki eulogises Pst. Gabriel Oiboh, wife on 40th wedding anniversary
    “The events of yesterday 12th December, 2019 were a scary prelude to the absolute mayhem which these irresponsible activities would generate if left unchecked.

    “In defiance of the clear and publicized instruction of the Inspector General of Police, calling off the proposed rally owing to security implications, these desperate persons are presently shopping around for alternative venues to carry out their incendiary activities.”

    Meanwhile, reports reaching TheNEwsGuru (TNG) has it that security was tightened around the Edo APC secretariat.

  • Obaseki, Oshiomhole faceoff: IGP orders suspension of Edo APC rally for Ize-Iyamu, others

    Obaseki, Oshiomhole faceoff: IGP orders suspension of Edo APC rally for Ize-Iyamu, others

    A rally scheduled for Friday in Benin by the All Progressives Congress to receive Pastor Ize Iyamu and his supporters has been stopped by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, according to deputy governor, Philip Shuaibu.

    Governor Godwin Obaseki, the party chairman in the state Anslem Ojezua all claimed they were not aware of the rally, although Ize Iyamu, said he had informed Obaseki about it.

    Obaseki is at the moment part of President Buhari’s entourage to a peace summit in Aswan Egypt.

    Shuaibu told journalists after meeting with Adamu at the Police headquarters, Abuja that the rally has been stopped for peace to reign.

    The letter to the deputy governor, titled, “Re:-Request to stop the purported All Progressives Congress, (APC) Rally in Benin City, Edo State, signed by ACP Idowu Owohunwa, principal staff officer to the IGP read:

    “I am directed by the Inspector General of Police to convey his warmest regards and to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency letter ODG.134/59 of December 12, 2019 on the above underlined subject.

    ” In cognisance of the security consequences of the proposed Mega rally, I am to confirm that the Inspector General of Police has directed the Commissioner of Police, Edo State Command to emplace appropriate security framework that is directed at suspending the rally until further notice.

    “He has also been directed to summon a meeting of all parties involved in the political development with a view to engaging them towards giving effect to his directives in overriding internal security interest.

    ” I am to renew the assurances of the highest regards of the Inspector General of Police to Your Excellency, please.”.

    The letter was dated 12 December, the same day that Shuaibu made his request.

    The Deputy Governor said that some persons want to destabilise peace that is being enjoyed in the state.

    However, he said, Obaseki remains focused.

    He alleged that “the man leading the division in the state unfortunately is the National Chairman of the APC,”

    He further said that the Governor of the state is the leader of the APC and the Chief security officer, regretting that the Governor was not aware of such rally.

    He, however said that he would not join issues with the APC national Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who he described as his mentor and father.

    Asked to react to the IGP’s permission earlier granted to the APC Edo State to hold its mega rally, Shuaibu said: “Well, having seen that, I had to write as the chief security officer of the state to let him know the situation in Edo State and to also inform him in line with the party’s constitution, the governor is the leader of the party.

    “And if the governor that is the leader of the party and the party that he leads wants to do a rally in his own state and he has not authorised it and he is not aware, such rally cannot take place.

    “Also to inform him that that national chairman suspended from the state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, does not have the locus to preside even on an issue that concerns APC as we speak. ”

    “So, the man that must give voice to whatever is APC in terms of governance enshrined in the Constitution is the leader of the party in the state, that is the governor.

    ” So I have the letter, the IG has responded to me that based on security situation that I have highlighted, that he has directed the commissioner of police to put all security in place to suspend that planned rally by these people.”

  • Again, Obaseki, Oshiomhole clash over planned rally for Ize-Iyamu, supporters

    Again, Obaseki, Oshiomhole clash over planned rally for Ize-Iyamu, supporters

    There is anxiety in Benin City, the Edo State capital, over Friday’s planned rally to receive defectors into the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    National Chairman of the APC Adams Oshiomhole is expected to welcome the former governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mr. Osagie Ize-Iyamu and his supporters into the party.

    But Governor Godwin Obaseki, elected on the ticket of the party, but who is estranged with Oshiomhole, said on Tuesday he is not aware of any rally by his party on Friday. He warned against a breakdown of law and order.

    Obaseki on Tuesday travelled with President Muhammadu Buhari to Egypt on official assignment from which they will not return until Friday.

    Ize-Iyamu contested the governorship poll on the platform of the PDP against Obaseki in 2016.

    Jingles have been running on radio and television stations inviting members of the public to the rally.

    Denied knowledge of any APC rally in the state after the security meeting with heads of security agencies in the state, Obaseki said he has checked with the state APC secretariat and the party had not announced officially that there would be a rally.

    According to him, issues of public safety were reviewed at the security meeting, particularly in relation to the Yuletide season.

    He said: “The issue of public safety is a major concern to us as a government and this being the last Security Council meeting for the year; we had to put up measures in place to tackle security challenges.”

    Chairman of the APC in Edo, Anselm Ojezua, also said the party had directed its members to stay away from the rally.

    Ojezua, who described the planned rally as “provocative and capable of disrupting the peace” in the state, said it was not the APC national body that should inform the state organs about any rally.

    He said: “I am not aware of any rally in Edo. We don’t know anything about it. Is it not absurd that the governor of the state is not aware? We are not a party to it and it must not be held in our name.”

    The party chairman said in a statement: “The attention of the party has been drawn to information being circulated by some unauthorised people to the effect that the APC in the state is receiving some new members on Friday, December 13, 2019, at Garrick Memorial School, Ekenwan Road, Benin City.

    “Neither the state governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, who is the leader of the APC in Edo State, nor other leaders of the party is aware of the purported declaration rally. It is, therefore, highly provocative and capable of creating breach of peace.

    “We urge members of the APC in the state not to have anything to do with the event. The organisers of that event are sufficiently seasoned and experienced as politicians to know the proper procedure and tradition usually attendant to this sort of event.”

    But the factional chairman of Edo APC, Col David Imuse, said Edo cannot have two chairmen as there can only be one party chairman in the state.

    He said: “As at today, the chairman is Col. David Imuse (rtd). The next line of action is to strengthen the party for the challenges ahead and win future elections.

    “We are not at a press war with anybody. The party leadership took a decision and the national headquarters affirmed that decision. So, whatever we do here is subject to ratification by Abuja; the party took a decision here and it was affirmed in Abuja.

    “We had a NEC meeting, it was ratified and affirmed. We had the Southsouth leaders meeting it was affirmed and in the meeting of all the chairmen of APC nationwide, it was affirmed.”

    “I don’t dwell on illegality. I am a highly focused person so right now the task before us is how to fortified party. Right now we are preparing for the reception of our brothers who are coming back home to strengthen the party.”

    Also on Tuesday, the suspended secretary of the party in the state, Mr. Lawrence Okah, raised the alarm over alleged plans by the government to recruit thugs from Kogi and Ekiti states to disrupt the planned rally.

    Okah claimed that “over 20,000 leaders of the PDP across the 18 local government areas in the state, led by Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, would be received into the APC by Oshiomhole and other leaders of the APC across the country.”

    He said: “We are raising this alarm so that the world will know that governor Obaseki intends to unleash mayhem on APC members in Edo state after he had perfected plans to join the PDP.

    “We have informed him of the scheduled rally. His deputy has also been informed but they have vowed to disrupt any event that will boost the strength of the APC in Edo state. This claim that cultists are invading the state is arrant nonsense. We are holding APC rally and we have accordingly informed all relevant authorities.

    “We appeal to the Inspector-General of Police, the Edo State Police Commissioner and the DSS to provide security to our members on that day. We use this opportunity to appeal to the governor to toe the path of peace and avoid violence because no blood of any Edo man is worth the ambition of any body.

    “We urged security agents to be at alert because since the preparation for this rally, our members are being harassed while many are being threatened and beaten across the state.”

    Special Adviser to Governor on Parliamentary Matters, Kabiru Adjoto, denied the allegation of plans to import thugs into to the state.

    Adjoto said: “It is unfortunate that such statement will come from Chief Lawrence Okah who is somebody I respect so much and I will be shocked if he actually said so. I am a man of peace, I am a stakeholder in this state and the governor is committed to absolute peace in the state.

    “He recently held a security meeting where he preached peace, especially in this Yuletide season for peace in the state and we are committed to that. I am a man of peace and throughout my time as Speaker in the state, we maintained the peace. If actually Chief Okah made this allegation against me, I will seek redress.”

  • Oshiomhole has no character to lead a political party – APC chieftain

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Edo State, Charles Idahosa, has again called for the resignation of the national Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole for the interest and survival of the party.

    Idahosa, who made the call while reacting to issues surrounding the crises rocking the party in the state, added that the APC is losing its grip due to alleged overbearing attitude of Oshiomhole.

    Apparently alluding to Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s claim that he was among the founders of the APC, Idahosa insisted that “those who claimed to have been among those who formed the party in the state are not.”

    According to him: “I am a founding father, I see people just coming into the party to destroy it. That is one of the reasons I cannot keep quite.

    “I happened to have been among the five Nigerians that formed the Action Congress for Democrat (ACD), that is today APC. In 2006, after we formed the ACD, [Lucky] Igbinedion disowned ACD.

    “I was the one that is being disowned, because in 2006, they saw me at a meeting of the ACD. The Edo State government at that time quickly disowned me, but it is very interesting today that everybody is now claiming APC.

    “Adams Oshiomhole as at that time was still carrying placards on the streets of Lagos and Abuja, protesting as a labour leader. That was when we formed this party. We knew the roles he played that time.

    “APC is dying gradually under Oshiomhole, and there is no way somebody like me can see issues and pretend not to see it.”

    Idahosa who said that Oshiomhole has no political home-base, noted that the only way out for him is to tender his resignation letter as national chairman, as he lacks the political acumen to lead the party, but as a labour leader.

    “Lerge Valessa was a great labour leader who led a riot in Poland and for that popularity, they voted him to become President of Poland and after few years, he crashed out. Trade unionism and activism is completely different from politics.

    “Oshiomhole have been a very good trade union leader, but as a leader of a political party, he does not have the temperament, he does not have the character to lead the party.

    “The best we can do for himself is to tender his resignation so that the party can have peace because the way the party is going, it is going out of control,” he said.

    The Edo APC chieftain however expressed optimism that the state governor, Obaseki would get the party’s ticket whether through direct primaries or indirect primaries, noting that it is the party in the state that decides what patterns it will use to conduct its primaries.

  • APC not nursing fears of losing Edo to PDP – Oshiomhole

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has said his leadership will do whatever needs to be done to ensure the party remains one in his home state, Edo.

    Comrade Oshiomhole, who gave the assurance on Friday during a chat with State House Correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, along with the party’s states’ chairmen at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, also assured that the APC was not at risk of losing Edo state in the next election.

    Oshiomhole was responding to a question about the crisis bugging the party in his home state, involving himself and the state governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki.

    According to the party Chairman, besides the fact that the people of Edo state had accepted the APC as a preferred political party since 2008 when he was elected as governor of the state, he noted that he had invested too much personal efforts into building the party, he would not do anything to undermine it.

    He went further to recall the decision of the party to commence a reconciliation process in all states of the country by setting up a national reconciliation committee, saying the efforts to sort all matters of disagreement out in the matter is aimed at giving deserved benefits, not just to the members of the party, but to people of the states under its rule.

    “Let me reassure you, APC is not at risk of losing Edo state in the next election. Edo people have accepted APC as a preferred party since 2008 when I assumed office and if you look at the result of elections, it shows that the people have faith in our party, on the basis of the performance of the government that the party has produced, both when I was there and even when I had left.

    “I believe that the issues in Edo and in every other state, will be resolved peacefully, to the benefit, not just of the party, but of the people in those states. We are committed to retaining Edo, particularly now that we have Bayelsa added to Edo, the more reason we cannot do anything which in our opinion, can possibly lead to APC losing Edo State, if anything, if you have been monitoring what is going on, more and more people are coming to join the APC in Edo.

    “If they have fears that we may lose, nobody will leave PDP to join APC. So if people are leaving PDP to come and join APC in Edo State, that is the most potent, bold statement about the level of confidence that even the people in the opposition recognize that if they want to be government, the party to join is the APC.

    “Be rest assured that as the National Chairman, even if I wasn’t National Chairman, the investment that I have put in, the much effort that we invested to be able to defeat PDP in 2008, against federal might, when President Obasanjo was the supervisor of that election and I got reelected and you know the PDP forces in Edo, if you have invested that kind of effort like I have invested like I have done and God bless it, you will do nothing that will undermine it.

    “Nothing anybody will do that will make one forget that a lot was invested and therefore we must keep the house together, whatever it will take. I am sure we will keep Edo together for the good, not only of our party, but more importantly, for the good of the people of Edo state.

    “You may have read in the papers, even on the electronic media last week when we had the meeting of the National Caucus and subsequently Friday the 22nd, we had a meeting of the National Executive Council. The resolution taken at that meeting is that a national committee will be set up to reconcile those aggrieved for whatever reason. I will tell you we are on top of the situation”, Oshiomhole explained.

  • Edo 2020: Oshiomhole using Abuja police to intimidate my aides – Obaseki

    Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has said that his predecessor and National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole has lost political grip on the state, but now resorts to deploying police operatives from Abuja to harass his aides.

    The Governor, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, added that Oshiomhole’s intent was an “attempt to plunge the state into chaos and cause panic in [his] camp.”

    He stated this in response to the arrest of his security adviser, Andrew Momodu, over the weekend by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) with the intent of whisking him to Abuja.

    Osagie’s statement had alleged that Mr. Momodu was arrested in a gestapo style.

    According to him, “When Momodu resisted the unlawful arrest by the security agents, he was taken to the Police Headquarters in Benin, where he was held for an extended period until the Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu intervened.”

    “Investigations revealed that the security from Abuja have orders from above to pick up not less than 50 persons loyal to Obaseki, in an attempt to plunge the state into chaos and cause panic in the governor’s camp.

    “Those penciled down for arrest, according to sources privy to the policemen’s modus operandi, including Special Adviser (SA) to the Governor on Political Matters, Edo South, Hon. Osaigbovo Iyoha.

    “Others on the list are Albert Obazee, Kelly Okungbowa (popularly known as Ebo Stone) and Muktar-Osagie Muntari, who heads the state’s Public Works Volunteers (PUWOV).”

    Obaseki and Oshiomhole have been at loggerheads over who controls the structure of the party in the state.