Tony Osauzo, Benin
Former deputy governor of Edo State, Peter Obadan, has debunked speculations that former governor Adams Oshiomhole, was behind the emergence of Osagie Ize-Iyamu as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress for Edo State.
The general feeling in Edo State has been that the former All Progressives Congress national chairman brought governor Godwin Obaseki and now he brought Ize-Iyamu.
But Obadan, in an interview with journalists in Benin, laid the speculations to rest saying: “The leadership met and said we needed a change. And this time, he (Oshiomhole) said you people should go and sort it out because I don’t want to be involved so that it will not be said I brought XYZ. Don’t forget, we have fantastic aspirants and they are all individually qualified to defeat Obaseki. But there are certain things we did put into consideration. We said the last time this man fought the election, and we were told he lost.
“But certain people claimed he won. And if that was the case, it was a sin for which you don’t only need forgiveness, you need restitution. So, it was on the strength of that that we now turned our attention to him. And you know, in God’s programme, delay is no denial. And when it happens at God’s own time, it is sweeter. So, it was only delayed but he was not denied.
“To us therefore, Ize-Iyamu is coming at the right time and the people are going to find joy because when the righteous rule, the people rejoice. There is peace in the land; there is prosperity in the land. Look at the reign of Governor Godwin Obaseki; it is one quarrel today, one problem tomorrow. Among the political class, we’ve never had peace. So, he’s become a problem; sowing seeds of discord.”
Speaking on what stands Ize-Iyamu out that would sway votes in his favour, the former deputy governor said: “He doesn’t discriminate. And we had looked at it again across the state; we have, yes, other religions. You have the Muslim settlements here and there. There is need for this cooperation so that we can have peace.
“To build that foundation for peaceful co-existence, he decided to pick a Muslim as his deputy. So, he’s a planner; he’s not looking at today, he’s looking at tomorrow. So, he’s building a foundation for co-existence between the Muslims and the Christians.”