- Obaseki’s Camp: Oshiomhole “Spitting on the Graves of People” By Allegedly Conducting Mock Primary Amid Lockdown
- Oshiomhole’s Camp: Allegations On Mock Primary False…Meeting “held…to articulate ways to support’ Edo’s fight Against Covid-19 following ‘widespread complaints from residents.”
The political camps of Edo state Governor, Godwin Obaseki and Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole until now might have been in a somber mood as the coronavirus pandemic overwhelms humanity. But not anymore, the loyalists of the two men have again renewed their war of words and antics after temporary cessation in recent months.
Recently, the camps have been throwing brickbat at each other following a purported mock primary for governorship election organized last Thursday by the APC faction loyal to Oshiomhole, otherwise known Edo Progressives Movement (EPM).
The said mock primary reportedly took place at the Benin residence of a former deputy governor of Edo state, Lucky Imasuen, notwithstanding the restriction on social gathering ordered by the federal government and measures put in place by Edo state to curb the spread of the contagion-Covid-19.
This has drew the ire of the Obaseki’s faction of the APC as another round of accusation and rebuttal ensue in the factionalized party in the state.
While coming down heavily on Oshiomhole, the camp of the Governor accused Oshiomhole of being insensitive to the fight against Covid-19 after his loyalists held a political gathering in the state amid the pandemic, disregarding government directive against mass gathering.
Obaseki’s camp through a statement issued by the Secretary to the Edo State Government (SSG), Osarodion Ogie said:“The coronavirus pandemic has not only shut the global economy and disrupted the world as we know it, it has led to the loss of over 200,000 lives globally, with Nigeria having its fair share of casualties.
“It is then most despicable of Comrade Oshiomhole to show such insensitivity by spitting on the graves of these people; endangering the lives of millions of Edo people and undermining the efforts of government at the state and national levels to halt the deadly campaign of this invisible enemy.”
The statement further stressed that “Comrade Oshiomhole on Thursday, April 30, 2020, organised what some media outlets have come to term as ‘APC faction’s mock primaries’ in Benin City. The meeting was organised by a group of dissidents who make up the EPM with the active backing of Comrade Oshiomhole, who, it was reported, drew up a delegates list for the exercise.
“It must be noted that the gathering was held in a house of a member of the EPM, with the attendants numbering over subsisting directives on public gatherings as prescribed by the national and state governments.”
“For the state government, organising such a gathering at a time when the nation in particular and the world in general seem to be battling a common and an unseen enemy, was a total disregard for the people of Edo State.
“For Comrade Oshiomhole to organise this sort of gathering at this dark moment of our history as a nation, he has not only shown disregard for the health and safety of Edo people and Nigerians in general, but also proved that he has no regard for the hard-won reputation of our great party,” part of the statement read.
The Edo government said the APC National Chairman following the mock primary has undermined the efforts by President Muhammadu Buhari and various frontline workers to curtail the spread of the ravaging virus, alleging that the organisers of the event were directly associated with Oshiomhole and have joined in embarrassing the party.
“It is most instructive of the kind of person that Oshiomhole is that at this time that federal and state governments are seeking for security operatives to enforce directives on safety and other public health precautions, he is deploying policemen and soldiers to a location to hold a political gathering.
“These security operatives should have rather been at borders and other strategic points serving the people and doing right by the thousands of health workers who are in the frontlines serving as shields against this unraveling enemy,” the statement further read.
Also, the government while demanding that a disciplinary action be taken against Oshiomhole by the party and Buhari, asked the police and the Nigerian Army to caution against the use of their men for “this illegal assignment when there is a national emergency of the kind we are faced with.”
But the Oshiomhole’s camp wouldn’t let things slide as the Director of Communication of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu Campaign Organisation, John Mayaki, quickly called on the Edo State government to leave the National Chairman of the APC alone. He denied the mock primary in the state as being alleged by the state government.
According to Mayaki, “Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Nigeria, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has adhered strictly to all measures announced by the government and the Presidential Task Force charged with the management of the viral disease.
“He has also joined efforts with Progressives across the country to offer relief to the Nigerian people and generate pragmatic ideas that can help the country return to normalcy in the shortest time possible without endangering lives.
“It is neither a constitutional duty for the National Chairman of a party to conduct mock primaries, nor something Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has ever done in his long history in politics.
“Those at the said meeting the Edo state government dubbed a ‘mock primary’, have since offered a rebuttal, showing evidence that the meeting, held in observance of social distancing guidelines according to them, was done to articulate ways to support the Edo state government in the fight against COVID-19 following widespread complaints from residents of the state.”
Meanwhile, another of Obaseki’s loyalist group, the Governors’ Mandate has kicked at the violation of the the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) rules against COVID-19 while conducting the mock primary. The group in a statement by its Chairman, Mr. Osaro Onaiwu asked the NCDC to prosecute Imasuen, Pastor Ize Iyamu, Odubu, and other loyalists who gathered at Imasuen’s house to conduct the mock primary, citing the prosecution and conviction of Nollywood Actress Funke Akindele and her husband by the Lagos state government for violating the social distancing rules.
It urged Obaseki to ensure that about 200 persons, who were at the venue of the mock primary, were quarantined.
“While some, it was gathered, are already in Abuja, some others have gone into hiding to avoid been quarantined as demanded by the mandate,” the group stated.
As the alleged lockdown violation by the Oshiomhole’s camp continues to throw up endless counter-accussations in the Edo APC, the Ize-Iyamu campaign organisation, said it had uncovered plots to cause strife among APC governorship aspirants in the State.
Ize-Iyamu decamped to the APC last year, having been PDP’s candidate in Edo Guber poll in 2016.
In a statement issued by his Campaign Organisation on Saturday, Ize-Iyamu alleged that, “Some persons have been paid to sponsored articles and other media contents against aspirants’ seeking the ticket of the All Progressives Congress, including the respected former Deputy Governor of Edo State, Dr. Pius Odubu, Engineer Chris Ogiemwonyi, and General Charles Airhiavbere (Rtd), Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu among others.
“These articles are products of a campaign hatched by those seeking to cause disaffection and disunity amongst the aspirants who are jointly committed to the ultimate objective of returning Edo state back on the path of growth and development after four years of misadventure.
The statement further added that, “Some people terrified of the camaraderie between the aspirants seeking to obtain the ticket of the All Progressives Congress, Edo State Chapter, have commissioned writers and other bloggers unknown to the Campaign Organization of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu to generate contents aimed at disparaging Edo APC aspirants.
“Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu holds in the highest esteem, Dr. Pius Odubu, Engineer Chris Ogiemwonyi, General Charles Airhiavbere (Rtd) and the other aspirants and remains committed to the agreed accord amongst them.”
The much bickerings coming from factions in the Edo APC are not unconnected to the supremacy battle over who gets the APC’s ticket to stand in the fast approaching gubernatorial election in the state amid rife uncertainty occasioned by the pandemic.
The New Diplomat recalls the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had in February fixed 19th of September 2020 and 10th of October 2020 for Edo and Ondo states Guber polls respectively.
Though the elections as scheduled are being threatened by the rampaging virus currently rattling the country with no respite in sight yet as cases are spiking and jangling nerves everyday, Governor Obaseki has not hidden his re-election ambition, giving it all it takes, even as his predecessor, Oshiomhole is more than determined to scuttle that plan, it appears the grand machinations in the coming days will go to the wires between the duo’s camps.
