By Deji Abdulwahab
Former National chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has urged his successor, Adams Oshiomhole, to desist from interfering in the affairs of Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo.
Odigie-Oyegun gave the advice in a statement signed by his Public Affairs Adviser, Chief Ray Morphy, on Sunday in Abuja.
“I appeal to him (Oshiomhole) to stop disgracing the governing party APC and Edo state.
“He should give the governor a breeding space to concentrate in doing the job of serving the people of Edo.
“I wonder how he could easily forget that I never interfered or bothered about how he ran the government as the then governor of Edo all the while I occupied the position of the party’s National chairman.
“I am yet to come to terms with why it has become difficult for Oshiomhole to realise that Gov. Obaseki is the only APC governor in the entire South-south.
“And he should be allowed to concentrate in giving the people of Edo the dividends of democracy,’’ Odigie-Oyegun said.
He urged the Progressive Governors Forum not to stand aside and watch its fellow governor being hampered by a party chairman whose actions might lead to political misfortune of the party.
“I want to also appeal to the Progressives Governors not to stand aside and watch their fellow governor hampered by a party chairman whose actions may lead to political misfortune of the party in the state.
“The recent outburst by Gov Obaseki and the report by the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee, indicting the current National Chairman of the APC, have confirmed my earlier claim that Oshiomhole is responsible for the crisis in Edo.
“In the face of these confirmations, I want to urge Oshiomhole to stop disgracing the ruling party and the good people of Edo,’’ Odigie-Oyegun said.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), recalls that a similar scenario had played out in the last PDP era between its erstwhile National Chairman, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, and his then Enugu governor Sullivan Chime.
That incident led to the removal of Nwodo by the then ruling PDP.
