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Steer clear of Obaseki: Edo Professionals, Oyegun warn Oshiomhole
Edo State Professionals (ESP) and former National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Chief John Oyegun have asked Adams Oshiomhole, former Edo governor and current APC chairman, to steer clear of his successor Governor Godwin Obaseki and allow him space to govern in peace.
The ESP call was contained in an open letter addressed to Oshiomhole and signed by Emmanuel Ijewere, Dr. Chris Momoh, Keem Bello-Osagie, Osaro Isokpan Esq. and 31 others.
The letter titled: “Avoiding the Temptation to pull down the solid house you built for Edo People,” urged Oshiomhole not to bring down the house he built.
“We the undersigned are representative members of Edo State Professionals (ESP) and we are concerned and embarrassed by the unfolding drama in the political space of our beloved State and have therefore come together in-spite of our respective partisan affiliations, to speak out as lovers of our state before Edo State is rendered ungovernable,” the letter read.
“We implore you (Oshiomhole) to rescue the governor from the shark infested waters of Edo politics. They therefore charged the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), “to pour the oil of ‘Gilead’ on the troubled waters.
“Just a statement of support and reconciliation by you will be a solution. You have the capacity to pour the oil of ‘Gilead’ on the troubled waters. You once told us ‘I will not sit on the fence on issues’. Please, act now in the interest of the people you governed for eight years.
“We have a deep sense of nostalgia dating back to that evening in 2006 at the Lagoon Restaurant, when Mr. Godwin N. Obaseki then, Chairman/CEO, Securities Transactions and Trust Limited, introduced your Edo State gubernatorial ambition to a select group of Edo sons and daughters and called on us to mobilise funds for your expectedly vigorous campaigns and possible election.
“You (Oshiomhole) promised to ensure sanity in governance if elected the State Governor and when you eventually mounted the saddle as Governor you sat on the gubernatorial throne for eight years and you took the State through a refreshingly new experience.
“We thank you immensely for not disappointing us in the various sectorial strides you took during your stewardship. As you dismounted from the saddle of State Governor, in a strategic move to ensure the continuity of focus and efforts, you led the thrust to elect your dynamic and self-effacing adviser, Godwin N. Obaseki, as your successor.
“Since Governor Godwin Obaseki took over, he has never wavered in actualising the dreams you both shared. Having been the Chairman of the State Economic Management Team for eight years under your reign he knew the direction and flow of your focus.
“We remember the countless times Godwin Obaseki came before our questioning eyes and minds at the meetings of Edo State Professionals to explain and defend the programmes and plans that your government had to implement. It was his deft understanding of the dynamics of project conceptualisation, financing and implementation that enabled the domestic financial markets to track and anticipate the focus of your administration and you recorded truly gigantic achievements.
“And you were the man of the moment. However, the development agenda by your team remains the backbone of Obaseki’s administration.”
The professionals alleged the ongoing House of Assembly controversy and the Henry Idahagbon led Edo Peoples’ Movement (EPM) campaign were attempts to deny the governor a second term, even though, according to them, he has done well as governor.
“Henry Idahagbon said that the EPM was formed with just two cardinal objectives viz: ‘To strengthen the party to regain its winning ways, because during the last general elections, we lost woefully. The second objective is shopping for a credible alternative for Obaseki come next year.
“This means that the struggle for the soul of the Edo State House of Assembly is being tele-guided from outside the Assembly and it belies the often-quoted statement that the Edo State Governor wants to impose a Speaker on the Assembly. In truth, these Assembly members-elect are being remotely controlled by a third force.
“Our Edo people say that ‘if a man sees a stone flying into his eye from a particular direction, he will do all he can to avoid it’. This may be why the Governor is unrelenting.”
“They therefore went ahead to petition that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole should intervene in the matter to prevent the National Assembly from plunging Edo State into crisis.
“In our opinion the NASS should rather reconcile the factions and not threaten fire and brimstone. We understand that 12 Edo Assembly members-elect have now relocated to Abuja staying in close touch with the party national secretariat and the House of Representatives. We urge them, for the sake of the masses of Edo State, to return to Benin and be sworn in as members of the House of Assembly.
“The absence of the 12 members now based in Abuja is inconsistent with the purpose of their elections and it is surprising that they want to allow their term to pass unutilised. And there are various problems to tackle in the State.”
Similarly, Oyegun in a statement signed by his Public Affairs Adviser, Ray Morphy on Sunday in Abuja, asked Oshiomhole to desist from interfering in the administration Obaseki, and to stop “disgracing” the ruling party in the state.
“I appeal to him (Oshiomhole) to stop disgracing the governing party APC and Edo State. He should give the governor a breathing space to concentrate in doing the job of serving the people of Edo,” he said.
“I wonder how he could easily forget that I never interfered or bothered about how he ran the government as the then governor of Edo, all the while I occupied the position of the party’s National chairman.
“I am yet to come to terms with why it has become difficult for Oshiomhole to realise that Obaseki is the only APC governor in the entire South-south.
“And he should be allowed to concentrate in giving the people of Edo the dividends of democracy.”
Oyegun urged the Progressives Governors Forum not to stand aside and watch their fellow governor being hampered by a party chairman whose actions might lead to political misfortune of the party.
“I also appeal to the Progressives Governors not to stand aside and watch their fellow governor hampered by a party chairman whose actions may lead to political misfortune of the party in the state.”
