A former National Chairman, All Progressives Congress, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, has apologised to the people of Edo State for supporting Governor GodwinObaseki to emerge as the state governor in 2016.
He, however, said his mission for now would be to ensure the governor’s defeat in the governorship election scheduled for September 19.
But in a swift response, Obaseki said he had no regrets for not being a stooge of Oshiomhole.
Both politicians had fallen apart shortly after Obaseki became governor in 2016. The quarrel persisted until last month when the governor was disqualified from contesting the APC governorship primary, forcing him to switch to the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he picked up the ticket to run on September 19.
Oshiomhole, addressing a crowd that gathered to welcome him at his Iyamho country home, said: “I have made a mistake by supporting a man who has no vision for my people. So, I want to correct my mistakes by making sure a servant of God, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, is elected as governor and kick the snake out of the government house.
“From now till September 19, I am here in Edo State because a political lion that I am, I am not scared of anything.”
Saying Ize-Iyamu is not a stranger to Edo politics, Oshiomhole stated: “He campaigned for me in 2012 and I won all the 18 local government areas of Edo State. He knows the roots unlike the current governor, who just became governor and does not know the efforts people made to make him governor. We will kick out this MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) governor and replace him with a pastor who will sweep out the Coronavirus party by the grace of God.”
He added that his preoccupation now is to see that the state returns to the path of development.
According to him, “Now the snake that enters our family home, God has driven the snake to where he belongs.
“I have come home to join you and start the process of reclaiming the house back to the family of APC. And if the people say, yes, and God says yes, there is no man born of a woman that can say no.
“So, now I have only one mission and I know it is our common mission: to bring Edo back to the part of sustainable development. “We want to return to the government of the people by the people and for the people.”
Oshiomhole accused Obaseki of highhandedness against APC members in the state.
“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,” he said, adding: “I even pleaded with those who were being persecuted to take it easy, that they shouldn’t burn the house we all laboured to build because they wanted to smoke out the snake. But now, the snake has been smoked out of the house.”
He said the campaign would be easy because there were visible projects the APC would use to campaign, unlike the incumbent who had been busy signing MoUs.
Source: THISDAY
