John Odigie-Oyegun, former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused his successor, Adams Oshiomhole of distracting the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki from governance.
He alleged that Oshiomhole was engaging in anti-party activities to create distractions for Obaseki.
Reacting to the decision of the APC National Working Committee (NWC) on the crisis rocking the House of Assembly, Oyegun accused Oshiomhole of heightening the tension in Edo State with his activities against the governor.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Political Affairs, Ray Murphy, the former APC National Chairman said the governor should be allowed to concentrate on presiding over the affairs of the state.
The statement reads: “This party must be stronger because we cannot go into the 2023 general elections with these discordant tunes, especially as President Buhari will not be contesting. We need to get our acts together. Oyegun has no personal grievances with Oshiomhole but Nigerians must know that he cannot go to equity with unclean hands.
“Today, there are all kinds of rancour coming from Edo State. They all boil down to attempt by godfather and godfatherism that is heating up the polity in the state. Obaseki is the executive governor of Edo State and he should be allowed to exercise the powers vested on him by the law. To what purpose is this idea of the APC chairman putting the state under tension?
“As a governor under the APC platform, he should be allowed to run out his tenure before they decide whether to bring him back or not. There are so much antics going on and you don’t need to be a prophet or Babalawo (diviner) to trace where they are coming from. They are coming from the APC.
“I want to think that they are all targeted at weakening the governor of Edo State. Ordinarily, the man in Edo should be given every support so that he can succeed to fend off the opposition PDP already around the corner.
“Ask anybody from Edo State what is Obaseki’s biggest distraction and they will tell you that his distraction is not whether he has governed well or not, but from his immediate predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole.
“It is very unfortunate, especially considering the fact that he is the national chairman of the same party with the governor. I have not heard that PDP or Edo leaders want to remove Obaseki. What has been trending is how his predecessor who happens to be the party chairman does want him back in the office.
“If his actions against Obaseki are not anti-party, someone should then explain to me what is anti-party. The problem of the APC is from a singular man, the national chairman who runs the party like an executive chairman. The idea of working singlehanded and inducing the party members to endorse is the problem of the party.
“Look at what is happening in the party today. When was the last time the NEC meeting was held? But when these crises came to the fore, he has called several emergency NWC meetings.”
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