The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki has given reasons why Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, governorship aspirant of the party are allegedly sponsoring violence in the state arm of the party.
Obaseki alleged that both Oshiomhole and Obaseki were sponsoring violence within the party because they lost out of the political power play in the state.
The governor stated that both APC chieftains had failed repeatedly in their inordinate quest to seize power from him through undemocratic means, hence resorted to violence.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, the governor insisted that he was not responsible for the violence witnessed within the party in Edo State.
Obaseki maintained that the state has been peaceful until the emergence of Oshiomhole’s backed group, EPM in the state.
The statement reads: “We are quite flustered that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has not been able to rein in his people in the face of the reconstitution of All Progressives Congress, APC, National Reconciliation Committee, tasked to restore lasting peace in the party both in the state and across the country.
“We are committed to peace and would do right by the people of Edo State by continually supporting all credible means to arrive at lasting peace in the state.
“It is rather curious that with Ize-Iyamu coming back into the political space in the last three months, extreme political violence has resurfaced with bombs going off in parts of the state and gunmen attacking politically-exposed persons.
“We have stated before that EPM, under the sponsorship of Oshiomhole, Ize-Iyamu and others, having lost out of the political power play in the state and failed repeatedly in their inordinate quest to seize power from Governor Godwin Obaseki through undemocratic means, have now resorted to violence to create a sense of a breakdown of law and order with the intent of forcing the declaration of a state of emergency in the state.”
There has been some measure of friction between Obaseki and Oshiomhole over who heads the state arm of the party.
The alleged friction recently led to the Obaseki threatening to expel the APC Chairman from the party.
However, Oshiomhole claimed he was not fighting anyone within the party.
