24th June, 2015
Jethro Ibileke/Benin
The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has dismissed allegation of bribery allegedly levelled against the national chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, allegedly by some APC governors.
According to the reports in some national dailies, eight of the APC governors, including the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, had allegedly held a meeting with the national chairman where they were said to have expressed their displeasure for “collecting gifts from Senator Bukola Saraki before the election, while pretending to” be in support of the party’s decision to cede the Senate Presidency to Senator Ahmed Lawan.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has however refuted the claims.
The State Publicity Secretary, Godwin Erhahon, while reacting to the bribery scandal in Benin on Wednesday, said that the state chapter of the party had assessed the outcome of the meeting, which he said did not bother on the said allegation.
“That publication is a pigment of the imagination of the author. We in Edo have been able to read the statement of the governor and the national chairman and there was no spelt allegation or call for resignation.
“In any case, who can bribe the national chairman and what for? The emergence of the current Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives was something that was not expected; it took everybody by surprise and the governor took his own position.
“Everybody is also aware that President Mohammadu Buhari told everyone to calm down and ensure that the matter was not allowed to break the party. So, at what level will bribery come in?” Erhahon queried.
Commenting on the zoning of principal officersof the national assembly, including the Deputy Whip which was zoned to the South-South and in favour of Senator Francis Alimikhena from Edo, Erhahon noted that the issue of what the national secretariat sent to the Senate had been overtaken by the current current leadership of the upper chamber, adding that the “party should reason with the leadership of the National Assembly.”
The Edo APC scribe however urged all governors on the party’s platform to cue behind President Muhammadu Buhari and seek peace in the party, rather than maintain rigid positions on the leadership in the national assembly.