*Asks progressives governors to wade in
A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has asked the current National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole to stop disgracing and fuelling crisis in the APC and his home state of Edo.
Chief Oyegun explained that it was necessary to caution Oshiomhole over “the ignoble role he was playing in fuelling the crisis” in Edo State.
Apparently reacting to the recent outburst and indictment by Governor Godwin Obaseki and the House of Representatives ad-hoc Committee, Oyegun said he was yet to come to terms on why Oshiomhole had easily forgotten that he never interfered in Edo State affairs as the National Chairman of the party while he held forte as the then governor.
Chief Oyegun, in a statement issued on Sunday by his Public Affairs Adviser, Chief Ray Murphy, wondered why Oshiomhole had allegedly failed to realise that Governor Obaseki should be supported as the only APC governor in the South-South geopolitical zone rather than vilifying and destabilising his administration.
Reacting further, Oyegun, a former governor of Edo State, expressed shock why Oshiomhole had “blatantly and brazenly” engaged in what he termed anti-party activities to the extent that the party in Edo was now allegedly driven by confusion and division.
He wondered why a man who claimed to have buried godfatherism in Edo State politics could play God and become “an agent of disruption” in the smooth running of the state government.
He specifically urged the Progressive Governors not to stand aside and watch their fellow governor being hampered by a party chairman whose actions may lead to political misfortune of the party.
“The recent outburst by Governor Obaseki and the report by the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee, indicting the current National Chairman of the APC, have confirmed my earlier claim that Oshiomhole is not only the architect but also responsible for fuelling the crisis in Edo state.
“In the face of these confirmations, I want to urge Oshiomhole to stop disgracing the ruling party and the good people of Edo state,” he said.
However, the Chief Press Secretary to Oshiomhole, Simon Ebegbulem, said, “I have no comment. Chief Oyegun is a respected leader of the party and an elder statesman.
“Comrade Oshiomhole has so much respect for him. If he really wants to address Oshiomhole, he can come out openly to address the man who succeeded him in office and not one Murphy.”
