Only Buhari Can Resolve Obaseki, Oshiomhole Rift, Says APC Chief

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APCE), Mr. Godwin Erhahon saturday said only the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari could save the crisis-ridden party in the state.

Erhahon, the chapter’s former Publicity Secretary, lamented that the APC national leadership and the National Assembly “have not been able to resolve the issue of Edo State House of Assembly.”

He expressed concern about the rift between the state governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki and his immediate predecessor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole at a news conference in Benin City yesterday, saying the crisis might undermine the party in the next governorship election.

At the conference, Erhahon cited a similar crisis situation in Bauchi State, noting that Bauchi’s crisis was resolved immediately when the president intervened and called all factions to order.

He upbraided the governor for his perceived romance with the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, warning that it was not the best approach.

He said the situation that happened in Edo State House of Assembly was similar to the one that happened in Bauchi, noting that Bauchi “is run by a PDP governor.

“Even when the PDP governor wanted to be funny, by the time the president took a position and said look, you the majority should not sell your right, these people went back; the PDP governor now came down and cooperated with the APC majority in the House.”

“In Edo, we have an APC governor who, whenever he has crisis, he will rush to PDP to pay solidarity visit. If the PDP governor could obey the president and an APC governor disobeys him; you dare the president, dare the National Working Committee, you dared the National Assembly.

“It does not make sense to me at all. President Buhari should be firmer. He should be able to assert his position or allow Oshiomhole to handle it the way he deems fit,” he said.

Reacting to claims that Obaseki was only exhibiting the trait of treachery historically associated with the family in Benin Kingdom, Erhahon rejected the claims, saying not all members of Obasek’s family could be said to be that unreliable.