A top member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Elder Owere Imasogie, who is the Edo South senatorial leader of the main opposition party has defended the action of Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike in shunning Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki when he recently visited Benin for consultation ahead of the presidential primary of the PDP.
Rising in stout defence of Wike, Imasogie explained that Obaseki had instructed his deputy, Comrade Phillip Shaibu to receive him (Wike) as he was not in town, an action which he insisted was not proper considering the bad blood between both men.
Against the backdrop of the war of words between the Rivers governor and his Edo State counterpart over Shaibu’s utterances at a recent rally in Benin in honour of the national chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, the senatorial leader added that it was not right for the governor to delegate his deputy to meet Wike.
He said: “It’s not true that Wike snubbed Obaseki. From the information at my disposal, Obaseki had told Shaibu to receive Wike on the ground that he was not in town. We are aware that it was the deputy governor’s utterances against the PDP which Wike considered to be rude and replied to that led to a war of words between him and Obaseki. It was not proper for Obaseki to tell the same deputy governor to receive Wike during his visit to Benin. If I were Wike, I would have done exactly the same thing.”
The senatorial leader said that the right thing for Obaseki to have done would have be to shelve his journey and receive Wike in presence of Shaibu so as to reconcile the two men.
On Wike meeting PDP delegates at the late Chairman, Board of Trustees of PDP, Chief Tony Anenih’s residence in Benin instead of PDP state secretariat during his visit to Benin, Imasogie insisted that there is nothing wrong with the action of the Rivers governor as it was done to honour the memory of Anenih.
According to him, it was a great honour and deep respect for the legacy of Anenih, adding that even when he (Anenih) was alive, the party used to hold crucial meetings in his residence instead of the secretariat.
He added: “Anenih’s house is as good as the party’s secretariat. Even when leader was alive, we used to hold such crucial meetings in his residence, so I don’t see anything wrong with Wike meeting the party’s delegates in our leader’s house. It means we are still loyal to him.”
