the All Progressives Congress and the Edo State
Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, are now jittery
over the plan by members of the ruling party in the state
to join the opposition party (PDP).
PDP noted that its soaring popularity in the South-South state was
giving the governor and his party sleepless nights.
The PDP said that this could be the reason why Gov.
Oshiomhole and the APC had allegedly resorted to
orchestrating a crisis in the state in a desperate attempt
to halt the trend.
The party accused Oshiomhole of "stirring up the
political crisis in Edo State to prevent an official
investigation into findings that he has been squandering
the state's resources, including huge levies and taxes to
finance his campaign for Vice-Presidency, instead of
settling down to develop the state".
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh,
said in a statement on Sunday that Oshiomhole was also
embittered by the acceptance of his followers, including
his aides, top government functionaries, legislators and
influential APC leaders into the PDP train.
Metuh also said the governor was roundly rejected on
account of his undemocratic tendencies.
But Oshiomhole, in a statement by his Special Adviser
Media and Public Affairs, Kassim Afegbua, dismissed the
PDP spokesman's allegations.
He said, "The crisis in Edo Assembly is a product of the
PDP's desperation for power in its attempt to capture
anything in sight, like a bunch of famished baboons.
"It is the same theatre of desperation that is pervading
the entire political landscape as a consequence of the
PDP'S show of raw power. We find it laughable that
Olisah Metuh, who is reputed to be a propagandist and
who had earlier lied against the comrade governor has
come up again to embark on another tale of the absurd".
According to Afegbua, Oshiomhole's record of
performance in Edo State has since become a reference
point in the history of performance and good governance
in Nigeria.
He stated, "His (the governor) tremendous
achievements across the state could only have been
possible through prudent and transparent management
of resources, especially in a state that was run aground
by the PDP for 10 solid but sordid years. Reminding Edo
people of those forgone years of the locust is to insult
the collective sensibilities of the people".
The media aide also denied the allegation that
Oshiomhole was eyeing the vice-presidential slot of the
APC.
"In fact, we would have loved a situation where he
would run for the Presidency of the country to take us
away from this regime of tactlessness that has almost
earned Nigeria a failed state status", he stated
He said that the governor had not indicated interest in
any elective office for now.
The PDP spokesman, however, insisted that Oshiomhole,
having lost the confidence of the people due to his
despotism, had resorted to violence and blackmail.
He stated, "This frenetic effort to subvert the will of the
people is foolhardy and compares to a fabled tale of a
man attempting to eclipse the moon with the hands.
"The fact that Edo is home to the PDP has never been in
doubt. In fact, what is happening in Edo State is clearly a
case of water finding its level.
"We are aware that Governor Oshiomhole and the APC
leaders have been having sleepless nights since the
discovery of his mismanagement of the state's resources
for parochial agenda and the continued defections of
influential APC members to the PDP and are as such bent
on contriving a quick-fix to stem the tide".
Metuh alleged that part of the survival strategies of the
governor and his party was the spreading of what he
called "wild allegations and instigating the crisis in Edo
State House of Assembly to disorganise and compromise
the legislature."
He added that the "macabre dance playing out in Edo
Assembly" was an expression of defeatism or rather a
terminal symptom of a decadent regime.
He said, "What else would have prompted the relocation
of the state legislature to the governor's office on the
stage-managed renovation of the Assembly Complex, if
not a calculated plot to intimidate and compromise the
lawmakers and prevent them from carrying out their
constitutional duties of checking the excesses of the
state executive under Governor Oshiomhole?"
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