With additional reporting from Kolawole Ojebisi
Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki has said he will not seek appeal on the outcome of the screening exercise which disqualified him from participating in the primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the forthcoming governorship poll in Edo State.
He said it will be an effort in futility for him to appeal the party decision, disqualifying him from the primary race which he termed as ‘unjust.’
The New Diplomat earlier broke the news that Obaseki alongside two other candidates were disqualified from participating in the Edo APC guber primary by a screening committee set up by the party on Friday.
In a statement by Mr. Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Obaseki said the action leading to his disqualification was a mockery of the democratic process.
“Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, is administering and superintending” over in his party the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Governor said he had initially reiterated “that going by the open display and enthronement of illegality by one man in the party that comprises several organs and eminent personalities, there is no way that he would get a fair assessment in the run-up to the nomination of candidates to fly the flag of the party in the forthcoming Edo gubernatorial election.
The statement continued: “It is unfortunate that this open show of shame, illegality and travesty of justice is the brand of democracy which Comrade Oshiomhole has reduced the APC into. The situation is quite saddening because this is a party supposedly reputed for change, equity and social justice.
“We have therefore decided that it would be an effort in futility to appeal whatever the unjust outcome of the evaluation and screening process of the APC will be, especially when Comrade Oshiomhole has declared that he is the Supreme Court and ultimate determiner of the fate and future of our great party.
“We wish Oshiomhole well in his maladministration of the party and trust that the Almighty will help our country to find the path to true liberty, freedom, and justice,” Obaseki stated.
Recall the governor had initially expressed misgivings about the possibility of him scaling through the exercise minutes after he faced the screening committee at the APC national headquarters in Abuja.
Speaking with journalists after the screening on Wednesday, Obaseki had said he was not sure of getting justice because Oshiomhole had refused to recuse himself from the process.
“Like I said, as a party man I had to go through the screening process but I do not believe that I will get justice because Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is an interested party in the Edo process,” the governor said.
The governor said the committee viewed his decision on issues of gazette that would affect the conduct of a direct primary adopted for Edo prior to the exercise as an anti-party position.
He said, “One of the questions asked was why did I issue a gazette that will prevent the party from performing direct elections in Edo. That did I not see it as an anti-party activity?”
The APC primary election is scheduled for June 22 and this latest development has triggered a fresh wave of anxiety in Edo state.
Though the governor while reacting to the news of the disqualification from the APC primary said he has taken the outcome in his stride, insinuations are rife that he may leave the APC to join the Peoples Democratic Party to seek the PDP’s ticket in furtherance of his re-election bid in Edo State.
