16th December, 2019
By Jethro lbileke
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, has described the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole as a serial liar who should not be taken seriously.
Obaseki, who spoke on Monday in Benin, through his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, while responding to comments made by his predecessor, listed several instances where he alleged that Oshiomhole twisted the truth.
Oshiomhole had at the weekend alleged that Obaseki failed to learn how to win elections while under his tutelage.
The governor said he did not only win his unit and ward during the last general election but also polled more votes for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 elections than Oshiomhole, when he was governor during the 2015 elections.
According to him, “In 2015, when Oshiomhole was governor, he polled 208,469 votes against Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) 286,869, with a 78,400 deficit. While in 2019, under Obaseki, the APC scored 267,842, while the PDP got 275,691, with a 7,849 marginal loss.
“In the House of Representatives, the state had 4 seats for the APC, against 5 for the PDP in 2015, while in 2019, under Obaseki, the APC won 5 seats, against the PDP’s 4. In the State House of Assembly, the APC won the entire 24 seats, which never happened under Oshiomhole’s administration.”
He added that “It bears repeating that the governor won his unit and ward in the general election and the marginal losses that the APC suffered in the state were orchestrated by Comrade Oshiomhole, who connived with some elements within the party to sabotage the APC, especially in Edo South in an attempt to de-market the governor politically.
“Chief among the collaborators with Oshiomhole to sabotage the president’s election in Edo South is Gen. Charles Airhiavbere, who did not only dislodge APC’s agents at the polling booths but also funded the opposition in some units and wards to enable them have an upper hand against the APC.”
“Another instance where Oshiomhole told a blatant lie in the full glare of the public was when Governor Obaseki went to the former governor’s residence in Iyamho during the last Sallah celebration. Oshiomhole told the world that he had no issue with Obaseki and that what people were witnessing was a media construction. This has since turned out to be far from the truth.
“On another occasion, the former Commissioner of Police in the state, Mohammed Dan Mallam, publicly debunked the lie by Oshiomhole that his Benin residence was attacked. The CP categorically said the claim was false and that the Police, which ought to be in the know, could confirm that there was no attack on Oshiomhole’s house.”