Tony Osauzo, Benin
Four Edo State gubernatorial aspirants on All Progressives Congress (APC) platform, yesterday, condemned what they described as needless crisis that has engulfed the party since the middle of 2018.
The governorship aspirants, including former deputy governor, Pius Odubu; Charles Airhiavbere, Osagie Ize-Iyamu and Chris Ogiemwonyi, spoke at a joint press conference in Benin.
They blamed the crisis on the deliberate alienation of party leaders and members by the government which they claimed they worked hard to install in 2016.
Speaking on behalf of other aspirants, Odubu said the orgy of politically motivated violence which swept through the state during the period, which targeted members of the party with opposing views from the government, coupled with the attacks on the person of the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole and others perceived as threats to the second term ambition of Governor Godwin Obaseki, negated their collective desire for a party that is stable, virile and viable.
They lamented the inauguration of the House of Assembly, saying the inability of elected members of the legislative arm on the platform of APC to perform their responsibility of law-making for which they were elected since June 2019 was “unprecedented and does not represent the progressive character of Edo people.”
The governorship aspirants passed a vote of confidence in the leadership of the party at the state and national levels, led by David Imuse and Adams Oshiomhole, just as they commended the traditional institution, led by the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, who took various steps to promote peace and unity.
“We also express our gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari and other national leaders of the party for their insistence on party supremacy,” they said, adding that the successes recorded with the recent inclusion of Bayelsa and Imo states as APC states must serve as impetus for the party to retain Edo State with, ‘firmer grip’ in in this year’s gubernatorial election.
The governorship aspirants reiterated their commitment to ensuring full compliance with the party directives regarding the elections and urged Governor Obaseki to subject himself to party laws and rules to elicit “the respect, order and decency which lies in the inter-relationship between government and the people.”
They announced that after consultation with other stakeholders, they unequivocally and wholeheartedly welcome the urgent intervention of the APC National Reconciliation Committee, led by the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, stressing that they were ready with their memoranda for presentation to the committee.
“As stakeholders, we have made both individual and collective efforts at restoring sanity to the APC in the state though it appears that as the state moves towards elections, the apprehension in the land is on the increase.
“In our views, there is need for sanity to prevail in Edo APC as it remained the party that would enable all of us, as stakeholders, to realise our individual and collective aspirations to provide effective, efficient and productive leadership for our dear state,” the governorship aspirants said.
In a swift reaction, the state chapter of APC has dismissed the press conference by members of the proscribed group, the Edo Peoples Movement (EPM), saying their agitations are fuelled by greed and avarice.
Further discrediting their submissions, APC Chairman, Anselm Ojezua, said two of the anchors of the meeting were bugged with severe malfeasance.
Ojezua said Ize-Iyamu, who he described as former governor Oshiomhole’s mercenary of distraction, is allegedly facing a charge brought against him by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at a High Court in Benin, while Airhiavbere is currently suspended by the party in his local government area.
He described other participants in the press conference, including former minister of State, Works, Chris Ogiemwonyi and Odubu, as individuals who were on life support politically.
Ojezua said: “These people, out of their greed and in reaction to the refusal of Governor Obaseki to share the state’s patrimony in satisfaction of their avarice, formed EPM and began their agitation against the government, which have all failed.
“Their latest resort is this press conference aimed at extricating themselves from the consequences of the crisis, which they caused. One of the actors, Airhiavbere, is currently suspended from the party in his local government area for anti-party activities, which resulted from his decision to work against President Buhari and the APC National Assembly candidates in the last general election.
“As for Ize-Iyamu, he is simply a mercenary recruited by Oshiomhole to accentuate the political tension in the APC and Edo State, even though he is still on his long walk towards becoming a member of the party; his membership is still in abeyance.
“Meanwhile, he has started executing his ignoble assignment from Oshiomhole of creating tension in the party.
“Their action is taken in realisation of the fact that all attempts they have made in conspiracy with Oshiomhole to destabilise the government in Edo State and create political distraction have failed.”