The immediate past National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, John Odigie-Oyegun, has accused his successor, Adams Oshiomhole, of working to undermine Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State.
Odigie-Oyegun and Oshiomhole are both former governors of the state.
He said the national chairman was guilty of anti-party activities by working against the interest of the governor ahead of the governorship election holding next year.
Odigie-Oyegun spoke while reacting to the decision of the APC National Working Committee on the crisis rocking Edo State House of Assembly.
Nine out of the 24 lawmakers were inaugurated on Wednesday after the election of Principal Officers.
The APC had in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu, condemned the action.
“As a party that has made a commitment to change, we strongly reject any attempt to recourse to brigandage of the past, when democratic practices were defined by the inordinate whims of people in power.
“It is an unfortunate reminder of Peoples Democratic Party’s queer brand of democracy. Practices like this are unacceptable under APC-led administration.”
The APC vowed that it would use all democratic means necessary to ensure the right thing was done.
Meanwhile, Odigie-Oyegun, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Political Affairs, Chief Ray Murphy, lamented that Obaseki was receiving the highest distractions from his own political party and not from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.
He said, “Today, there is rancour in Edo State. They all boil down to godfatherism that is heating up the polity in the state.
“Obaseki is the executive governor of Edo state and he should be allowed to exercise the powers vested in him by the law. To what purpose is the APC chairman putting the state under tension?
“As a governor under APC platform, he should be allowed to run out his tenure before they decide whether to bring him back or not. There are so many antics going on and you don’t need to be a prophet or Babalawo to trace where they are coming from. They are coming from the APC.”
Odigie-Oyegun stressed the need for APC to remain united, adding that the power game was all because of the 2020 governorship election.
“I want to think that they are all targeted at weakening the governor of Edo state. Ordinarily, the man in Edo should be given every support so that he can succeed to fend off the opposition PDP already around the corner.
“I have not heard that PDP or Edo leaders want to remove Obaseki. What has been trending is how his predecessor who happens to be the party chairman does not want him back in the office.”
He added, “This party must be stronger because we cannot go into the 2023 general elections with this discordant tunes especially as President Buhari will not be contesting.
“We need to get our acts together. Oyegun has no personal grievances with Oshiomhole but Nigerians must know that he cannot go to equity with unclean hands.”
Calls placed to the Chief Press Secretary to Oshiomhole, Simon Ebegbulem, indicated it was not available.
He had also yet to respond to a text message sent to him by our correspondent. Punch
