TheCable

Crusoe Osagie, special adviser on media and communication strategy to Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, says Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is fond of telling lies.

In a statement on Monday, the governor’s aide said Oshiomhole, former governor of Edo, should not be taken seriously because he never tells the truth.

On the claim that Obaseki and Philip Shaibu, his deputy, did not perform up to expectation in the last general election, the governor’s aide said Obaseki did not only win his polling unit and ward during the last general election, but also polled more votes for President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential elections than Oshiomhole did in 2015 when he was governor.

“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,” the statement read.

“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.”

Osagie alleged that the marginal loss of the party in the state during the general election was orchestrated by Oshiomhole.

He said the former governor had lied about false attacks in his Benin residence, adding that the claims were later debunked by the police.

“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,” he said.

“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.

“Comrade Oshiomhole after the incident said that the attack was carried out by Comrade Shaibu, but the same Shaibu was in the vehicle that was attacked. So, this goes to show that Oshiomhole never tells the truth.

“It is rather unfortunate. It is the manifestation of this that we see with the crisis associated with different chapters of the APC across the country.”

Both Obaseki and Oshiomhole have engaged in political tussle which fuelled crisis in the state chapter of the party.

Oshiomhole was earlier suspended by Edo APC while loyalists of the chairman fought back by suspending Obaseki, over alleged plans to defect from the APC.