Former Edo State Information Commissioner and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Charles Idahosa Thursday expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the national leader of the party, for their intervention in the crisis rocking the chapter over the proposed primary.
Idahosa, who commended Governor Godwin Obaseki for listening to wise counsel of party leaders and making peace moves, also lauded the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) for the brotherhood it had displayed by rallying behind one of its members.
He however, said despite the latest development, APC leaders in Edo State are not taking things for granted because Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the partyโs national chairman, is not somebody that can be trusted.
Idahosa, who is a former Political Adviser to Oshiomhole, said the former labour leader and his loyalists in the Edo Peoples Movement (EPM) are determined to oust Obaseki, not because of non-performance but because he refused to share the stateโs resources to them.
โIt is a very welcome development and I am so happy with the unity exhibited by the APC governors. We are very happy that the governor listened to our wise counsel to go ahead and see Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in Lagos with his colleagues and they later went to Abuja to go and see Oshiomhole while Governor Obaseki went ahead to go and see Mr. Presidentโ.
โWe saw our governor addressing the press at the Villa. We are also aware that the President eventually met with Oshiomhole to try as much as possible to settle the matter so that we can have peace in Edo. So, we are very happy and we congratulate our governor for going out to seek peaceโ.
โI also saw the governor yesterday at the national secretariat returning his forms and I listened to what he said.
The issue is that Oshiomhole cannot be trusted and that is why we are not leaving anything to chance here in Edo. The governor has performed creditably wellโ.
Even those fighting the governor under the acronym of Edo Peoples Movement (EPM) led by Oshiomhole have not accused him of non- performance.
The only allegation they leveled against him was that he is not giving them money to share. If that is the only sin the governor has committed, not that he did not perform, we are very happy about thatโ.
โBut, the problem that we envisage and we are suspicious about is that Oshiomhole lies too much. Like I have always said, he lies from both sides of his mouth. He is not consistent; he will say something and do something else.
โFor example, he told the whole world that he did not receive any communication from Edo state APC that they didnโt want direct primary. But available records has shown the resolution of the whole party structure in Edo state, where they sent a letter to him.
The letter was received in his office and signed by one of his staff with the mobile number on it. So, how do you trust such a man?
โHe wrote INEC on May 19, saying the NWC has decided on direct primary. Howeer, the meeting of the NWC took place on May 22, three days after he wrote to INEC. This means that Oshiomhole has decided on what he wants even before the meeting of the NWC. How can such a man be trusted?โ
So, when the Governor said Oshiomhole should excuse himself from the whole process, I totally agree with him. Oshiomhole cannot be a judge in his own matterโ.
โOnly a blind man that doesnโt know what he is doing in this country will say that he is not aware that Oshiomhole is the beginning, middle and the end of the crisis in APC Edo state chapter. So, how can he now be a judge in his own matter?โ
โWho took our 14 legislators to Abuja, lodged them in hotels and was feeding them until the court stepped in and said they should leave the governor alone and that the State House of Assembly was duly inaugurated?โ
Paulinus Nsirim is the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Rivers State.
