The Edo State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has flayed deliberate efforts by governorship aspirants under Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-backed Edo Peoples Movement (EPM) to create a crack in the APC and sell the party to the opposition just as they did in Zamfara, Bayelsa and other states.
In a statement, Publicity Secretary, APC, Edo State, Pastor Joseph Osagiede, expressed disappointment over the unsuccessful attempts by these individuals to extricate Comrade Oshiomhole from the shameful and insensitive role he played in the violation of the regulations against the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), by organizing the botched EPM mock primaries in the state, thereby putting the lives of Edo people and Nigerians in danger.
The party was reacting to a statement published on page 7 of The Nation Newspaper and page 4 of Vanguard Newspaper on Monday, May 11, 2020, by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s governorship aspirants, some of who are, according to Osagiede, not members of the Party in the State.
According to him, “the views expressed in the statement do not reflect the position of APC in Edo State; at best it reflects the envious and malicious disposition of the authors and their cowardly sponsor clearly intimidated by the towering achievements of Godwin Obaseki in such a short time. They do this without a thought to the damage they do to the Party in Edo State, a platform upon which they claim they want to pursue their so-called ambitions. How Ironical!
“We, however, symphatise with them as their frustration and desperation continues to heighten; all attempts they have made to discredit Obaseki has met with serial failure. This is because anything founded on falsehood and deceit cannot stand; besides our government, in line with the principles and philosophy of our great Party, has placed the people at the centre of its policies and programmes, ensuring that developmental efforts are primed to benefit the people directly and not to service the private pockets of the puppets and their hypocritical master.”
He continued, “For over a year now, Comrade Oshiomhole, the dramatis personae, has endlessly deployed these cronies of his in a competition of who can do the most damage to the stability of the APC in the State. Some of these persons who are mercenaries from other political parties have, since then, worked tirelessly, each trying to outdo the other, in inflicting damage to the Party.
“But for the strong support which Governor Godwin Obaseki enjoys from the leadership and members of the party and the overwhelming approval rating from Edo people across party, religious, ethnic and social divides, Oshiomhole and his puppets would have set the party on the path of perdition, as happened in Zamfara, Bayelsa and other states.
“In terms of financial prudence and efficient deployment of state resources to deliver value to Edo people, Obaseki is light years ahead of Oshiomhole. The difference between them is like night and day. As a matter of fact, Oshiomhole should be careful and not take the State government’s benevolence for granted, particularly as pertains the host of financial and legal infractions perpetrated in his tenure.”
Speaking on the achievements of Governor Godwin Obaseki, which has earned him the love and support of Edo people, the Publicity secretary noted, “It bears repeating that the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration has re-enacted the basic education sub-sector by training over 11,400 primary school teachers, ushering a digitally-enhanced education in over 846 schools; constructed at least a road in each of the 192 wards in the state; completed two blocks of the Secretariat complex and the Treasury House (abandoned for over 40 years). The governor has completely reconstructed the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium, and attracted investments into the Real Estate, Agriculture, Sports, Hospitality and Power sectors to mention a few.
“With respect to the COVID-19 fight, it will be apt to state that all relevant agencies of the Federal Government as well as independent observers responsible for interfacing with all the states in response to COVID-19, have ranked Edo as a topflight state in the management of the pandemic in Nigeria”
The party further charged the national leadership of the APC and the Presidency to look into the needless and reckless losses of States hitherto controlled by the APC to the opposition and investigate the possible case of conspiracy by Comrade Oshiomhole to wage an internal war of attrition within the party in order to weaken it, with the hope of jumping ship in 2023 to achieve his personal political ambition at the national level.
