Chief Ayiri Emami, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has faulted Chief Edwin Clark over his comment on the Edo State House of Assembly crisis.
According to him, Clark’s argument that the National Assembly had no right to take over the Assembly was wrong.
Emami said he was disappointed that the elder statesman ‘pitched tent’ with Governor Godwin Obaseki in the peak of the current face-off with his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole.
Speaking with newsmen after a meeting with President Buhari yesterday, the APC chieftain said Clark was expected to advise the governor to reconcile with Oshiomhole who purportedly made him governor
He said, “When I read that I felt very disappointed because he is an elder statesman and he should know the laws more than many of us.
“I recall that Chief Clark never supported Governor Obaseki before he became governor, so if Obaseki is trying to be very ungrateful to people that brought him to power, I think, as a father, Chief Clark should have advised him better, not to cause chaos in Edo state because Edo and Delta are still the same.
“I expected him to call Obaseki and advise him as a father but he did not do that, rather he took side immediately.
“Let me tell you, there is nothing about Edo state that we don’t know. The National Assembly has it as a duty to intervene in any state Assembly that has crisis.
“So for anybody to fault that move is unfortunate and that Is why I am shocked with the comment made by Chief EK Clark.
“All of us knew how Obaseki became governor of Edo state. He was never a politician. It was Oshiomhole who made him governor against all odds.
“Oshiomhole offended many people loyal to him just because he wanted to make Obaseki governor. So it is unfortunate that today the governor sees himself as a thin god, exhibiting so much disrespect for the man that made him governor. That is ingratitude of the highest order and it is not good for him as a governor. To me, he’s an ingrate.
“There is an adage in Itsekiri which says you must remember the good of yesterday. Whatever Obaseki is doing he must sleep and reflect the good time he had with Comrade.
“A couple of times I had an opportunity to sit with Comrade and he kept saying ‘Ayiri, you know how I labored to bring Obaseki so I cannot support pulling that house down. So I don’t see Comrade fighting Obaseki but Obaseki is just fighting himself.
“So Chief EK Clark should concentrate on Delta state where he caused some problems for people and leave Edo alone because he does not know how Obaseki became governor.”
