By Joel Okwara
“There is a story spinning around, deliberately orchestrated by pro-Obaseki propagandists to misrepresent the APC candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, on his beautiful outing in Maryland, United States, where they tried effortlessly to drag the name of our revered Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, into the discourse,” Prince Kassim Afegbua, Director of Media, APC/Okpebholo Campaign Council, said in statement on Friday, May 24, 2024.
“Seeing the massive support that the APC candidate got in the said Townhall meeting in Maryland, PDP spin doctors have rushed to town, to report a different story from what the APC candidate said at the event.
“There was no where that the APC candidate referred to our revered Oba of Benin in condescending language nor mentioned the word ‘distraction.’
“What Okpebholo told the August gathering was that the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has no business meddling in the affairs of our traditional rulers, and that Obaseki’s present effort was targeted at ridiculing the revered Oba of Benin and the Benin Palace as a formidable institution.”
“According to Okpebholo: ‘Before the advent of modern administration, the traditional institutions were the anchor of governance and administration in most communities in Nigeria. In fact, the Benin Empire is larger in size and influence than the present Edo state.
‘Any serious-minded Governor, who understands our traditional institutions, should naturally accord respect to our traditional rulers, and in Edo State, the Oba of Benin, undoubtedly takes a pre-eminent position.
‘If I become an elected Governor by the good people of Edo State, I will constantly consult with the great Oba of Benin and other traditional rulers across the state before taking major policy decisions. Our traditional rulers are the custodian of our value system and culture.'”
Prince Afegbua said: “We found it very distasteful that pro-Obaseki media would twist the entire story upside down, to discredit the candidate and drag him into the murky waters that the infamous Governor Obaseki has continued to drag the state in.
“They wanted to score a cheap political point, but they misfired abysmally. Senator Monday Okpebholo is not only a man of subliminal humility and respect, he remains a proper and well brought-up Edo son, who understands the revered position of traditional rulers in the state, especially our quintessential Monarch, the Great Oba of Benin.”
Afegbua noted that, “Obaseki has been dragging the Benin Palace artefacts with the Great Oba of Benin. He has refused to open the Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre, which has grown weeds and become descrepit.
“All the monies that were donated by foreign governments, who returned our artefacts, have been withheld by Governor Obaseki without releasing same to our Monarch.”
He quoted Senator Okpebholo as declaring that, “If I become Governor, all our traditional rulers will be given a pride of place in the affairs of the state, and we will restore the glory and candour which the Benin Palace represents.”
