The feud lurking strongly between the Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki and his predecessor and National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Adams Oshiomole has further escalated to a new level, as Obaseki vows to deal with Oshiomole over his refuser to comply with the ban on political campaigns in the party.
Obaseki disclosed his fury towards his predecessor during a meeting with the 18 APC local government chairmen in the state, in which he reiterated that he would ensure that Oshiomole understands that he, Obaseki, is the governor of the state, and will expel him if he doesn’t subject himself to the party’s wishes.
He said;
“I am the governor of Edo State. If anyone comes to your ward or local government to do things outside what the party has agreed, I hereby authorise you to deal with that person seriously.
“We are warning the suspended national chairman. If he continues his activities in Edo State, I will show him that I am the governor of the state.
“When he was the governor, he will never tolerate a fraction of the misdemeanour and misbehaviour he is undertaking today. I have declared that if Oshiomhole comes to Edo State to say he wants to disrupt the activities of the state and the party, we will deal with him the way we know how best to do it.
“Oshiomhole stands suspended from the party. In due course, we will expel him if he does not behave. The party does not belong to him; it belongs to all of us. We are following the wish of our people.
“Our next step is to make sure we convince more people to join our party so that all of us can move this state to the next level.”
Governor Obaseki further stated that Oshiomole left the party in no good shape despite the resources at the disposal of the party. According to him, he was the one who built up the party when he got into power.
He said;
“This is not a party man. Look at the dump he kept the party as a secretariat. With all the resources we had, he could not support the party until the landlord evicted us.
“You are governor or chairman based on the platform that elevated you. That is why I looked for one of the most beautiful buildings along Airport Road and said this is the secretariat of the party.”
In response, Pally Iriase, a former member of the house of representative said that Obaseki’s statements were repressive. According to him, Obaseki has not been able to point out to projects achieved by his administration, except for his “jackboot tactics”.
Iriase said,
“Ever since we left the military, we have not seen this kind of repressive administration that gags political opinion. By now, Obaseki should be pointing out to projects in my local government and several others and not this jackboot tactics.
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“Obaseki has not performed; that is what he should know. In the first nine months, Obaseki earned N57bn, what he would have achieved with that amount will be obvious to the eyes and loud to the ears.
“How does growing the party and swelling its ranks become anti-party activities? We should be getting kudos. Obaseki is trying to scare people away. This jackboot democracy in Edo will not work.”