The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, on Friday claimed he made numerous efforts to bring peace to the Edo State APC, describing as “bulls**t” the allegation that he was playing godfather in Edo State.
Speaking in a television interview, Oshiomhole said, “As part of my efforts to resolve the problems in Edo State, there was a time the governor told me he would not have anything to do with Charles Idahosa because he lost his booth during his own governorship election; but it was here in this my living room that I invited Idahosa and he did not know the governor was coming, I invited the governor he did not know Idahosa was coming.
“When the governor entered the room, Idahosa sat and said he was not going to have a handshake with him and used a language for me that was derogatory. I said ‘No, Charles. You cannot talk like that. This is the governor and you must respect him.’ And I said, ‘Governor, please whatever Charles has done that you are not happy about, we have won, put them behind you.’ I said in this business, if you didn’t work with people because of their electoral value, sometimes you would work with them because of their nuisance value. So you would not gain by saying you wouldn’t work with this one or this one.”
He mentioned Rev Egharevba and Prince Eweka as examples of other party stalwarts that had conflicts with the governor and he had to intervene.
“My own embarrassment is when they say Oshiomhole wants to be like a godfather. If I wanted to be, I will be nominating commissioners. I only persuaded him to accept one commissioner from me, only one and I gave my reasons. He was a founding member of my campaign organisation in 2006, Mika. Other than Mika, I did not nominate any commissioner; I did not nominate any special adviser, special assistant because for me these are governance issues. So where is the godfather from?
Meanwhile, the Edo State Government has rejected the composition of the APC National Reconciliation Committee led by the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan.
In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Paul Ohonbamu; and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, it alleged that the committee comprised by persons with vested interests in the crisis rocking the ruling party.
It also alleged that some of the members of the committee such as Senator Lawan and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Wase, meddled in the altercation between Edo State Government and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, and could not now be adjudicators on the matter.
Meanwhile, the Edo State chapter of the APC on Friday said Anselm Ojezua’s call for Oshiomhole to resign was an attack on his person and the exalted office, adding that it amounted to the highest level of insubordination and arrogance.
When contacted, Ojezua insisted he remained the chairman of the APC in the state and that Col. David Imuse, who is recognised by the national leadership of the party as the acting chairman of the party in the state, did not exist.
The PUNCH
