The crisis between the Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole deepens as two south west governors support Mr Obaseki on plots to remove the National Chairman.
According to the Vanguard who gathered the report on Wednesday that Governor Obaseki has purportedly got the support of two state governors of the South West (names withheld) to join the campaign to remove Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
One of the governors is said to be a beneficiary of Oshiomhole’s support to win his election.
This it was gathered would pave way for Obaseki to easily get his second term as they see Oshiomhole as a major obstacle to the governor’s second term ambition.
Meanwhile, one of the close security details to Obaseki simply identified as Luther has been hospitalised following the dispersal of suspected thugs who had last Saturday thronged the Benin Airport to disrupt the arrival of Oshiomhole who was on a private visit to attend the burial ceremony party of a former aide.
He was said to have been beaten by security agencies who mistook him for one of the suspected thugs who came to disrupt Oshiomhole’s arrival haven been sighted allegedly coordinating them in company of a retired Deputy Superintended of Police.
But a government official denied the allegation that he was attacked as a result of the incident at the airport but did not disclose further details.
In a related development, a Senior Special Assistant to Obaseki, Kaycee Osamwonyi, has been suspended from the APC for allegedly engaging in anti-party activities and causing factions within the party.
He was suspended by APC leaders in Ward six Uhunmwode local government area and other reasons adduced for his suspension were engaging in activities that have brought the APC to ridicule and opprobrium in Ward 06 and promoting subversion and breaches of the Constitution of the APC.
A disciplinary committee was set up to look into the allegations against Kaycee and submit its report within two weeks.
Meanwhile, one of the strategies that have been devised to remove Oshiomhole it was reliably gathered is through the sponsorship of false surveys that would establish false information “masquerading as empirical truths and this survey would be carried out by pseudo-researchers and it would be jointly funded by the governors.”
A source privy to the plot said. It was gathered that the researchers have also been instructed to find ways to establish through their survey, that Obaseki is the only viable candidate who can win the coming election in Edo State.
They are to use invented charts, demographics, and questionnaires. Besides, the survey is expected to accuse Oshiomhole as the cause of the ongoing conflict in Edo State.
It was gathered that the survey is to go ahead and claim that responders have called for the immediate resignation or outright removal of the party’s National Chairman.
According to the Vanguard gathered that the results would be sent to the Presidency and thereafter the sponsors would embark on an aggressive media campaign to convince President Muhammadu Buhari and other national leaders of the party, that Oshiomhole is the cause of the crises within the party in Edo State and other states.
Throwing more light on the development, A Consultant on Communication, Management, Leadership and Strategy who was Interim Chief Press Secretary to Obaseki, John Mayaki and former Chairman of defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN) and former Speaker of the state house of assembly in a jointly issued statement described the new twist as an embarrassment to progressives’ politics.
Part of the statement reads: “While this theory muddles between truth and myth, one is left to wonder what is there to gain in tarnishing and persecuting a man who has brought massive success and popularity to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
“Timely intervention is warranted and there is an exigent need to educate the masses, making them prepared for the emergence of coordinated falsehood targeted towards character assassination, the perpetuation of a warped political ambition, and the pursuit of hidden agenda that is in no way beneficial to the public.
But history, that rigid scribe and ultimate judge of men’s character will hold them to ransom someday.
For now, let the people know that a plague of fakery and falsehood and sponsored lies is loosed upon them, and about to invade the society. When contacted, the Special Adviser to Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie said the allegation is a conspiracy theory being cooked by Oshiomhole and Edo Peoples Movement which he described as a dissident group.
He also denied that any Obaseki’s security aide was hospitalised. He said all that is happening in the state is Oshiomhole’s last resort “to create a sense of insecurity in Edo State to throw the people into panic, undermine public safety and create tension and crisis.
This is calculated at making the state seem ungovernable to force the federal authorities to declare a State of Emergency in the state so that he can continue his inordinate plans of enthroning himself as one who calls all the shots in the state.”
He added that Oshiomhole has continued to constitute himself into a major public threat with “his ongoing atrocious campaign to undermine government by planning sponsored anti-government protests and also concocting lies to create a sense of crisis in the state.”
Osagie assured the people of Edo state that security, law and order, remained a priority of the government and “we will spare no effort in ensuring that the state is safe for residents and indigenes to conduct their lawful businesses.”
Source: Vanguard
