Tony Osauzo, Benin
The Deputy Governor of Edo State Comrade Philip Shaibu, yesterday, accused ex-governor of the state and former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, of wanting to subvert laid down democratic tenets enshrined in the Nigeria Constitution by covertly seeking a third term in office as the Governor of Edo State, through his surrogate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, who he has already told the World was a thief.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Benjamin Atu, the deputy governor said “The truth is that Ize-Iyamu is merely a stooge. The real man seeking for the governorship position is Adams Oshiomhole who has perfected the plan to betray democracy by seeking a third term in office. The price that Oshiomhole will pay for projecting Ize-Iyamu is an outright rejection.
“Oshiomhole is displaying blind compassion with a specific pledge to return to the state on the path of backwardness with failed institutions where individuals will be more powerful than government institutions with an analogue system of operations. Technological development has since left Oshiomhole behind in the scheme of things.
“We need a new kind of politics and policies that reflect the best value of our people. Politics that focuses on bringing people together to work for the common good.
“We have displayed determination to end the culture of government that habitually failed to stimulate investment; provide massive employment for the youth and failed to reduce poverty and hardship in the land”.
Shaibu stated that Edo State has a choice between policies of the heart by Governor Godwin Obaseki and policies of the head as currently been propagated by enemies of the state, claiming that
Edo people subscribed voluntarily to the the principle of Obaseki because they have seen these principles at work all over the state.
According to him, “We can not risk the future of Edo State with a man’s shrunken aspirations. Good men can not be shunned away from politics while those who ought to be defending their integrity are parading themselves, as party candidates.
“Our campaign is based on the affirmation of what we have done and still capable of doing, by drawing our strength from the masses to deal with all our vulnerabilities.
“The incumbent administration inherited a backward State but we have grown our ways out from backwardness. Obaseki has bridged the yawning credibility gap between what was a promise and how it is performed and transformed into reality”,the deputy governor said.
But reacting Shaibu’s allegation, Edo State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Chris Azebamwan, said he was chasing shadows and therefore, urged him to focus on the issue of his tax fraud and the inconsistencies and discrepancies in his academic credentials and those of Godwin Obaseki.
“It is laughable to accuse Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of seeking a third term by proxy. He was Governor for eight years, and more recently, National Chairman of the ruling Party at both Federal and Edo State until Godwin Obaseki betrayed the mandate freely given to him by Edo people.
“The Vision and the Mission of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress, APC is lucidly spelt out in his manifesto which he tagged, SIMPLE agenda. Shaibu and his boss Godwin Obaseki know they cannot fault the document, and they don’t have an agenda of their own to offer Edo people.
“In their cluelessness, they have resorted to name-calling and mud slinging. They believe they can distract and hoodwink Edo people by hinging their campaigns on persons, instead of issues. Perhaps they should be reminded that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is not on the final list of candidates for Edo 2020.
“Philip Shaibu should focus on the issue of his tax fraud and the inconsistencies and discrepancies in his academic credentials and those of Godwin Obaseki. There is also the issue of how they maligned, sidelined and disparaged Edo citizens in nearly four years of their administration; the same people from whom they are now soliciting votes.
“We cannot allow them ‘Make Edo Grounded Again’. With the emergence of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu as the APC candidate, Edo people should not just expect a better life, they should prepare to live it”, Azebamwan said in statement.