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Romanus Ugwu, Abuja and Tony Osauzo, Benin
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed the possibility of holding a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting to resolve the crisis in Edo State occasioned by the feud between the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole and Governor Godwin Obaseki.
As the state chapter of the party braces for its governorship primaries slated for June 2, there has been clamour from several party chieftains, including the recent one by the party’s former national auditor to curtail further escalation of the crisis.
But the party’s spokesperson, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu described the face-off between the party’s national chairman and Governor Obaseki as ‘a mere contestation of interests.’
“Go from state to state, when you have politics you have conflicts and conflict to those of us who are practising politics is not crisis, it is contestation of interest. And if you go to any other state, you have things that are similar. The only difference this time is that the national chairman happened to be from Edo. Otherwise there is nothing strange in what is going on in Edo. What is important is that at the end of the day, whether the national chairman, whether governor, everybody is subjected to the same rule.
“That is what our constitution says. We (NWC) are involved in the day-to-day running of the party and this is part of the routine that we carryout, this is not the first time and whoever said that also is expressing his view, which is also allowed in democracy,” he said.
This is coming in the heels of the party displaying certificates of all six governorship aspirants seeking the party’s ticket in Edo state.
Aspirants who have bought, completed and submitted the party’s expression of interest and nomination form include Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, Governor Godwin Obaseki, Dr. Pius Odubu, Chris Ogiemwonyi, Osaro Obazee and Matthew Aigbuhuenze Iduoriyekemwen.
Defending the decision to display the credentials of aspirants and appeals to Nigerians to expose those involved in certificate fraud, he could not confirm if the party would be writing to their institutions to authentic their credentials.
“You know that it had been said that experience is the best teacher, we have had experiences that are not so palatable. We have had experiences that are so shocking and we won’t be doing the right thing if we don’t learn from those experiences.
“You will recall what happened in Bayelsa; we thought we did the best we should, but it turned out that we did not do enough. So, the best thing we have to do now is to go beyond ourselves to the things that may not be known to us. Besides the fact that we have put it out here for anybody who has information to help the screening committee, we are also taking official steps to verify some of these documents to be sure that we do the right thing and we come out clean,” he said.
The documents placed on the notice board at the national secretariat of the party, indicates that the incumbent Governor Obaseki, has three credits and three passes in his 1973 West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) submitted for screening.
It further claimed that the subjects Obaseki passed include: English P7, Literature P7, CRK C6, History A3, Geography C6 and Chemistry P8.
Although Obaseki proceeded to higher school, the Institute of Continuous Education between 1976-1979 before gaining admission into University of Ibadan, where he studied Classics, the party had promised in a statement last week to display various submissions.
Chieftain advises gov against unholy power contestation
Party chieftain, Dr. Osadolor Idemudia, has advised Governor Obaseki not to allow his contestation for power in the coming governorship election destabilise the state’s democratic space, urging him to be guided by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 protocols for the conduct of any party primary.
In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, Dr. Idemudia, who is a medical doctor/primary health consultant, expressed serious concern over the statement credited to the governor that there would be no direct primary. He said the mode of primary that will decentralises the system was more appropriate at this time of COVID-19 pandemic.
PDP lauds Obaseki over use of Ogbemudia Stadium for primary
The Edo chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, commended Governor Obaseki for granting it approval for the use of the newly re-constructed Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium for its governorship primary scheduled for June 19 and 20.
The party in statement by its spokesperson, Chris Nehikhare, said the decision to apply for the use of the facility was in compliance with the extant COVID-19 regulation in the state.
“Edo PDP is pleased to report that Governor Godwin Obaseki has granted approval for our party to use the Samuel Ogbemudia Staduim for our governorship primary.”
