APC may lose Kogi, Edo, others over chieftains’ face-off, Nabena warns
• Oshiomhole behind assembly crisis, Obaseki’s aide claims
DNational Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yekini Nabena, yesterday raised the alarm that the ruling party might lose the governorship elections in Kogi, Bayelsa, Edo, Ondo and Anambra states holding between this year and next on account of the protracted face-off between its National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole and his successor, Chief John OdigieOyegun.
Deploring the row, which he stated was weakening the political during a chat with reporters in Abuja, the Bayelsa-born politician said
information at his disposal revealed that the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was exploiting the crack to clinch the affected states.
He appealed to the combatants to put their personal interests aside for the interest of the party with a view to avoiding the looming doom. The spokesman said OdigieOyegun, who he described as an elder statesman, should be seen making peace instead of adding “salt to the injury.”
He enjoined the party exchair to tell Governor Godwin Obaseki the “truth and not encourage illegality which is currently happening at the Edo State House of Assembly.”
On the leadership crises at the Bauchi and Edo Houses of Assembly, Nabena stated: “This is not an issue of politics. The party’s position is very clear that the right thing should be done not just in Bauchi State, which has a PDP governor, but also in Edo State, which has an APC governor. The respective houses must be transparently and properly convened in line with set rules and democratic standards.”
He, therefore, warned that the two feuding chieftains would be held responsible if PDP takes over Edo State next year. Meanwhile, Special Adviser to Edo Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, has faulted the ruling party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-onilu, saying his recent statement has confirmed that Oshiomhole was allegedly sponsoring the state assembly crisis.
In a statement yesterday in Benin City, the governor’s aide described the endorsement by Issa-onilu as a slap on the face of the nation’s judiciary which had restrained the party’s National Working Committee ( NWC) from interfering in the affairs of the assembly.