BEVERLY HILLS, June 15, (THEWILL) – Monday night’s meeting between the new Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the party’s National Working Committee, NWC, did not help Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State reverse his disqualification from the party’s governorship primary.
Gambari had met with them at State House, Abuja, to discuss the controversy and uproar that greeted Obaseki’s disqualification by the screening panel, the appeal panel and the NWC.
Oshiomhole, who briefed State House Correspondents after the meeting, said the decision to disqualify Obaseki, who is seeking reelection, is irrevocable.
“We’ve gone a long way: we’ve advertised the timetable, there was the stage of collection of forms and about six people collected forms. In that timetable, we also provided for screening and we also provided for appeals arising from the screening.
“This is standard practice that the NWC has adopted since 2015 and in the case of Edo, we have completed the process of selling forms, we have also completed the process of screening, we have completed the process of appeals arising from the screening by those who wish to take advantage and the NWC has met and has reviewed the report of the screening committee and we were unanimous that the screening was thoroughly done and found that three people were eligible to contest, with regards to the provisions of our Constitution.”
THEWILL had previously reported on Oshiomhole’s plot to disqualify Obaseki from the Edo State governorship primary because he feared the embattled governor, who firmly control’s the party’s machinery in the state, could win the ticket. Oshiomhole and Obaseki have been engaged in a protracted fight over the control of power and influence in the state.
Obaseki is expected to dump the party with his supporters for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Meanwhile, elder statesman and an influential power-broker in the South-South region, Chief Edwin Clark, has urged the main opposition party, the PDP, to cede its governorship ticket to Obaseki, saying he has performed exceptionally well since he became governor.
Clark also took a swipe at President Buhari and an influential leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, for allowing Oshiomhole continue to wreck the party’s electoral fortunes since he assumed office last year.
In a statement, Clark said: “The goings-on in Edo State are a repetition of what happened at the Lagos State governorship primary of the APC in 2018, where the then governor was removed in a primary, which did not exist. It was a shame that the team that was sent to Lagos to conduct the APC primaries, at the time, under the leadership of a past governor of Cross River State, who had categorically stated at a press briefing that there was no primaries and that they were going to hold the primary the following day but recanted his words and later said there were primaries held. What type of party leadership is that?
“There is no doubt that there is no one that is indispensable, but to treat fellow party and countrymen in the manner that was done to the former Lagos governor and now to Governor Obaseki, is most horrendous.
“While I am not a member of the APC or of PDP, or any other political party, for that matter, it is regrettable that the APC in Edo State is being destroyed as it was in some other states in 2019 when due to the same manipulation and rascally interferences leading to wrong decisions, the APC lost Zamfara, Bauchi and Adamawa states to the PDP and did not have candidates in Rivers State, for the elections. Situations that were sufficient to be a serious lesson for the APC on its leadership mismanagement, but it seems not so.
“It is, therefore, most disgusting that in 2020, APC is toeing that same path in Edo State. If the leadership of the APC, including Mr. President, fails to intervene in this unfortunate crisis in the Edo State, I would appeal to the PDP to take advantage of the situation and adopt Obaseki as their candidate. It is a golden opportunity for the PDP to take over Edo State because Governor Obaseki has so far done well. I want to believe that he will continue the good work if given a second chance. I also appeal to the people of Edo all over the world to support him to achieve his second term bid and to PDP aspirants to also sink their interest for now in the overall interest of the state.
