…‘Educated people now active in Edo politics, Oshiomhole can’t deceive them’
The Special Adviser to Edo State Governor, on Political Matters (Edo South), Hon Osaigbovo Iyoha, has berated the suspended National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, over his role in the political crisis in Edo and other states’ chapter of the party across the country.
Hon. Iyoha, in a briefing with journalists in Benin City, said it is shameful for Comrade Oshiomhole to have organised a political rally in Edo North Senatorial district of the state with full knowledge of the ban on political rallies by the state government and the Nigeria Police Force.
He said one of Comrade Oshiomhole’s biggest challenge is the saturation of Edo political space by educated people, which has made it difficult for the former governor to railroad them to achieve his self-centered aims.
“The APC is now as organised as it can be. In the past, the party was only organised during elections. The issues are very clear. Comrade Oshiomhole cannot push us around. We will not accept it. The problem Oshiomhole has is that there are a lot of educated people in politics, people who cannot be easily deceived,” he noted.
“He has turned himself into a lawless figure and is disturbing the state. We are telling him to desist from such.”
On the disobedience of Police orders by Comrade Oshiomhole, Iyoha said, “We have taken up the issue with the Nigeria Police Force because there is a ban on political rallies in the state. There was destruction of property and people were injured before and during the rally. The state government has made proclamations banning political rallies in the state.
So, we do not know why the police allowed the rally to continue.”
Iyoha stressed that the APC in Edo State is ready for reconciliation only if the reconciliation committee is constituted by the presidency, noting, “We are waiting for the presidency to set up a reconciliation committee because we are open to reconciliation and don’t have problems with anybody.”
“Adams Oshiomhole is the author of the crisis in Edo. He cannot set up a committee to address the crisis he caused in the state. He is the person factionising the party in the state. He cannot bring people who are indebted to him to settle crisis he created,” he added.
The governor’s aide debunked rumours making the rounds that the Governor Obaseki was going about begging party leaders, noting “The governor remains in full control of the organs of the APC in Edo State. The party leaders are under the control of the governor. I am telling you that the leaders of the APC in the state are with the governor, save for a few self-centered individuals who used to profit from the old order.”
On the rally held in Edo North, he said, “There were no Edo North APC chieftains at the rally because they have told Oshiomhole that they are supporting their son, the deputy governor, Rt. Hon. Comrade Phillip Shaibu, on his re-election.
According to him, “the setting up of the mobilisation committee by the Edo State Chapter of the APC, was necessary to accept new members from other parties who were interested in joining the party going by the developmental strides of the governor.
Responding on the chances of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Edo 2020 gubernatorial election, Iyoha said the party had been crumbled in the state and stands no winning chance as their major governorship aspirant has decamped to Edo Peoples Movement (EPM).
