A former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), John Odigie-Oyegun has decried the crisis rocking the party in Edo State, supposedly due to the rift between Governor Godwin Obaseki and his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole.
Oshiomhole, the current national chairman of the APC, was once seen as Governor Obaseki’s godfather and believed to have handpicked him to become his successor.
The relationship between the two has since soured and its effect is the current crisis rocking the APC in the state.
Oyegun, who spoke on the development said while it was good to mentor somebody, that it was wrong to continue to treat the mentored as a child when he had grown into maturity.
Addressing newsmen on the sideline of the 22nd investiture of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) in Lagos on Thursday, Oyegun described the situation Edo had found itself as “tragic and unfortunate”.
According to him, what had been playing out between Obaseki and his predecessor exposed the dangers of godfatherism in the nation’s politics.
He said, “When principles are involved in an argument, it is very hard to wade in, especially expecting that one party surrenders principle to another.
“It is a good thing to mentor somebody, to have an elder, more experienced to help bring up the younger one.
“But when you have mentored him, and he has attained maturity and growth, do not keep treating him like a child.”
The former APC chairmen, who applauded the performance of Obaseki’s government in the state, said there were ongoing efforts to address the problem and restore peace to the state APC.