Oshiomhole Should Come Down From The Fence On Edo Crisis – Edo Professionals

By Ayodele Oluwafemi

An elite group of professionals from Edo State has called on Comrade Adams Oshiomhole not to keep to the fence in the crisis enveloping the state and thrown his support behind Governor Godwin Obaseki in the crisis it claimed is meant to cut off the governor from a second term.

The group styled as the Edo State Professionals, ESP in a letter to Oshiomhole charged the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC not to derail the development of the state.

The signed by Emmanuel Ijewere, Dr. Chris Momoh, Keem Bello-Osagie, Osaro Isokpan Esq. and 31 others, urged the former governor of Edo State not to bring down the house he built.

In the letter entitled: “Avoiding the Temptation to pull down the Solid House you Built for Edo People,” the group said: “We the undersigned are representative members of Edo State Professionals (ESP) and we are concerned and embarrassed by the unfolding drama in the political space of our beloved State and have therefore come together in-spite of our respective partisan affiliations, to speak out as lovers of our state before Edo State is rendered ungovernable.”

According to them, “We implore you to rescue the Governor from the shark-infested waters of Edo politics. Just a statement of support and reconciliation by you will be a solution. You have the capacity to pour the oil of ‘Gilead’ on the troubled waters. You once told us “I will not sit on the fence on issues”. Please, act now in the interest of the people you governed for eight years. Comrade Governor, “this boy called you father do not have a hand in his death.”

They stated: “We have a deep sense of nostalgia dating back to that evening in 2006 at the Lagoon Restaurant, when Mr. Godwin N. Obaseki then, Chairman/CEO, Securities Transactions and Trust Limited,  introduced your Edo State  gubernatorial ambition to a select group of Edo sons and daughters and called on us to mobilise funds for your expectedly vigorous campaigns and possible election.

They noted that “Since Governor Godwin Obaseki took over, he has never wavered in actualising the dreams you both shared. Having been the Chairman of the State Economic Management Team for eight years under your reign he knew the direction and flow of your focus. 

The group noted that the current impasse may be linked to the campaign of the Henry Idahagbon-led Edo Peoples’ Movement (EPM) to deny the governor a second term.

As the group said: “The statement in The Guardian of Sunday July 14, 2019 attributed to one Mr. Henry Idahagbon, a Benin-based member of the APC and leader of the Edo Peoples’ Movement (EPM) has provided a clue into how this potentially bloody war is being fueled. Henry Idahagbon said that the EPM was formed with just two cardinal objectives viz: “To strengthen the party to regain its winning ways, because during the last general elections, we lost woefully… The second objective is shopping for a credible alternative for Obaseki come next year”. 

“This means that the struggle for the soul of the Edo State House of Assembly is being teleguided from outside the Assembly and it belies the often-quoted statement that the Edo State Governor wants to impose a Speaker on the Assembly. In truth, these Assembly members-elect are being remotely controlled by a third force.  Our Edo people say that ‘if a man sees a stone flying into his eye from a particular direction, he will do all he can to avoid it’. This may be why the Governor is unrelenting.”

They urged Comrade Oshiomhole to intervene in the matter to prevent the National Assembly from plunging Edo State into crisis.

“In our opinion the NASS should rather reconcile the factions and not threaten fire and brimstone.  We understand that 12 Edo Assembly members-elect have now relocated to Abuja staying in close touch with the party national secretariat and the House of Representatives. “We urge them, for the sake of the masses of Edo State, to return to Benin and be sworn in as members of the House of Assembly.  The absence of the 12 members now based in Abuja is inconsistent with the purpose of their elections and it is surprising that they want to allow their term to pass unutilised. And there are various problems to tackle in the State,” they said.

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