Former Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole at the weekend called himself “political lion”, even as he described the incumbent Governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki as “the snake” that has now been smoked out of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Governor promptly responded by stating that Oshiomhole is only disappointed because he refused to be used in his (the ex-governor’s) quest to become a godfather in the state, stressing that the erstwhile APC national chairman is frustrated over his failure to achieve his goal to govern Edo State for a third term using him as a proxy.
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Oshiomhole spoke when he addressed a crowd of party supporters and faithful who thronged his Iyamho residence, Etsako West Local Government Area Sunday evening, maintaining that those who were bent on destroying the APC in Edo have been “smoked out”.
According to him, “Few weeks earlier, the snake (Obaseki) said APC was his house and that he was not leaving, but less than 72 hours after saying this, he left.
“If we had burnt the house because the snake was giving us problem, we will all have been homeless by now.”
Oshiomhole also stated he made a grave mistake bringing Obaseki as his successor in 2016 even as he said with his defection and that of his deputy to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) “the bad eggs in our party are gone”.
He said Obaseki, used every obnoxious means, including the destruction of property and unwarranted arrest of members, to destroy APC in the state, saying “The Governor was demolishing the houses of our members while some were being jailed for trump up charges; these are the people who fought for him to become governor.
“I begged those who were being persecuted to take it easy, that they shouldn’t burn the house we all laboured to build because we want to smoke out the snake and now, the snake has been smoked out of the house”.
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The former APC National Chairman disclosed that his immediate task now is to ensure victory of the party come September 19, stating that: “I have come home for only one project, I am not going back to Abuja until the project is completed.
“I came back home not to rest, but to work. We are political lions, we must commit ourselves to returning Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu to Osadebe Avenue.”
He urged the people to judge the present government with what they see and not what they hear, insisting that, “there have been no tangible development since we left government, all they have to show for almost four years are MOUs and ear mark projects while we had eye marks projects.
“This was how they brought the respected Vice President to Benin to groundbreaking for an industrial park that we will never see. Same also goes to that of Gelegele Port.”
However, the Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, while reacting on behalf of his principal, said, “In 2016 when Oshiomhole nominated and supported Obaseki, his hidden motive was to use Governor Obaseki who he thought would be a pawn in his game to defraud Edo people and enthrone himself as the ultimate godfather of Edo politics at the expense of the will and wishes of Edo people.
“However, Obaseki’s refusal to mortgage the interest of the majority of Edo people for the satisfaction of the avarice of Oshiomhole and his handful of greedy followers is the cause of Oshiomhole’s bitterness which has led him to bury himself in pursuit of an innocent governor who is trying to do the right thing for his people.
“If Oshiomhole had made any mistake in supporting Obaseki in 2016, it is to the extent that he thought that the Governor will submit himself as a tool to be used to hold the collective will and best interest of all Edo people hostage and for this Obaseki owes Oshiomhole no apologies because the interest of Edo people is and will always be greater than the interest of one man,” Osagie added. AllNews