The Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, has challenged the former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, to be courageous enough to tell Nigerians the truth about the circumstances that led to his removal, as bandying lies on national television will not save his drowning political image.
Osagie who was responding to claims made by Oshiomhole on ARISE Television programme on Monday morning, noted that “no amount of lies can controvert the fact that Oshiomhole’s political misfortune is self-inflicted.”
According to the governor’s aide, “Contrary to the narrative being advanced by the sacked national chairman that he was a victim of power play, Nigerians who have followed the events that led to Oshiomhole’s ouster closely, can attest to the fact that he was a victim of his own indiscretion and unholy machinations.
“In fact, in Edo State, Oshiomhole was the powerful force that millions of Edo people fought against, so that the governor could breathe and deliver good governance to them.”
“Nigerians know that Oshiomhole was sacked for his gross abuse of power and not the narrative he has been bandying on television. His obsession with power and absolute control of same, drove the APC to a near catastrophic situation.
“He was elected to build on the achievements of his predecessor, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, but he frittered away the enormous goodwill he inherited and embarked on personal battles that cost the APC such states as Zamfara, Sokoto, Oyo and created factions within the National Working Committee of the APC. So it was only natural that the consequences of the strife, crisis and divisions that he caused would come calling someday.
“In Edo State, Oshiomhole turned against Governor Obaseki when the governor failed to yield to his subservience and his grand plot to rule by proxy. He literally invaded the Edo APC and set up parallel structures to hijack it. His predecessor, Chief Odigie-Oyegun allowed the state’s structure of the APC to carry out its activities without any interference. To Oshiomhole’s immoderation, Edo State is today a PDP state and we are free from his inanities.
“The former national chairman of the APC mortgaged the internal cohesion of the party, which ought to have been his primary task, for personal interest and set the APC on a roller coaster to disaster, until the president intervened.”
He added: “Today, Oshiomhole has found it convenient to rewrite history, by playing the victim in an event he was the sole protagonist. But Nigerians will not fall for such a trick.”
On Oshiomhole’s claim that Obaseki does not have a manifesto, Osagie explained: “Obaseki has since unveiled his Making Edo Great Again (MEGA) manifesto to Edo people and the manifesto is clear about the direction the Obaseki-led government will take the state in the next four years.”
Osagie queried, “How can a man that Oshiomhole publicly acknowledged as the brain box of his eight-year administration not have a manifesto?
“Oshiomhole keeps running from one issue to another when confronted with facts and superior argument. He once called Governor Obaseki an MoU Governor. But the moment we confronted him with photographs of the CCETC-Ossiomo Independent power plant project that is awaiting commissioning; the Benin Refinery project which is at 70% completion; the EDPA-Mixta Nigeria Housing Estate and several other projects birthed by Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), the former governor, stopped calling Obaseki an MoU governor.
“Edo people are very intelligent people who cannot be deceived with lies and propaganda. We have facts on ground in virtually all sectors of the state that speak to the performance of the Obaseki-led government.
“The Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation programme (EDOBEST) has attracted the attention of several state and national governments who have come to understudy the policy.”
