The Governor of Edo State, Goodwin Obaseki, has asked Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to steer clear of the party’s primaries in the state.
Obaseki, while addressing journalists at the APC national secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday after submitting his expression of interest and nomination forms, asked the APC national chairman to recuse himself from the process to avoid conflict of interest.
“I am using this opportunity to call on Comrade Oshiomhole to recuse himself from the Edo nomination process because he is an interested party. It is against natural justice for a man to be a judge in his own case,” Obaseki said. “So I think the honourable thing to do is to recuse himself and let’s have a free process and let’s reconcile and build our party.”
The governor, who has been at loggerheads with Oshiomhole, his predecessor in office, reiterated that he was going to win the Edo APC governorship primaries whether through direct or indirect mode.
He debunked rumours that he had acquired the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) forms concurrently with those of APC.
“It is very absurd. I am someone that is very exposed. How can I collect forms from two parties when we had rulings in the past disqualifying people on that?” Obaseki said.
“I am a party man to the core. APC is my party because I come from a progressive political family. I believe in the ideals of APC, I believe in our president, I believe in what he stands for, so I am a party man to the core. I am not an old-styled politician. I represent a new direction of politics that is based on facts and truth, not lies,” he said.
Speaking on why he was seeking second term, the Edo governor said another four years would give him the opportunity to consolidate on what he has done and that it was also a promise of APC.
“We are a reformist party, we are a progressive party. That’s why I’m here today to indicate my interest and my desire to run for another term as governor of Edo so that I can continue in the service of my people,” he said.
On his alleged betrayal of Oshiomhole, Obaseki said, “The person you talked about, he had no money when he left labour to contest. We knew what we did to make him governor. I sacrificed eight years of my life pro bono, I collected no kobo to serve him in Edo.
“Today we know what we have built because of where we started from. So when you talk of betrayal, the biggest betrayal can be when people betray a cause, when they betray an idea. That is the greatest betrayal of all. It is like betraying God. When you say to God, this is what I stand for, and then God gives you power, then you turn around and do the exact opposite. There is no greater betrayal than that.
“So when you talk about betrayal, let us be very clear. I want to put it on record that I am grateful, he assisted me just as I assisted him. I know the sacrifices we made to make him national chairman. So what are we talking about?”
