Adams Oshiomhole, former national
chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), has accused Godwin Obaseki,
governor of Edo state, of deceiving Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to lay the
foundation for a “phantom industrial park” in Benin, the state capital.
In November 2017, Osinbajo laid
the foundation of the park at Iyanomo community in the state capital.
Osagie Ehanire, who was then
minister of state for health; the oba of Benin and even Oshiomhole were among
the dignitaries at the event.
Speaking with state house
correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, the
former national chairman of the ruling party said the park had become a “den of
robbers and kidnappers”.
“Some of the things that have
made our campaign easier is the fact that we have established a tradition in
Edo state, that don’t believe any politician till you have seen action
particularly if that politician is already in office,” he said.
“We have 192 wards and we have
been going round to ask just one question. Have you seen government presence in
this ward since four years ago when I left? The answer has been no because the
current governor spends all his time on memorandum of understanding (MoU) for
refinery, which remains a MoU. It is not on ground.
“He got Vice-President Yemi
Osinbajo to do the groundbreaking for an industrial park where he claimed that
many Chinese and Singaporeans were anxious to relocate factories and create
300,000 jobs. Now, that place has become what we can call kidnappers track
because people rob and go into the bush. There is nothing going on there. Not
that the progress is slow, absolutely nothing is going on there. All the
promises he made on TV where he signed different agreements with people, none
of them is in progress.”
‘I WON’T WRESTLE WITH A PIG’
Responding to a question on the
allegation of Salihu Lukman, director-general of the Progressive Governors’
Forum, Oshiomhole said he would not wrestle with a pig.
Lukman had alleged that
Oshiomhole is frustrating the newly national caretaker committee of the ruling
party to pave way for his return as national chairman, but Oshiomhole asked the
reporters if “I look unemployed?”
“You want me to engage in a fight
with a pig? If you engage in a fight with a pig, the pig already is stained by
its nature and you will wear your white garment, and in my own case, khaki to
go and wrestle with a pig? I will not,” he said.
“When I was removed as national
chairman, Edo was APC… So, do I have to win Edo to become the chairman? “So,
what they don’t understand is that, it is not the office of chairman that made
me who I am. It is my pedigree from my days as labourer in the textile industry
to be the general secretary of textile workers all over Nigeria and becoming
the president of NLC.”
‘I FOUGHT GODFATHERS FOR OBASEKI TO EMERGE’
“There is no village I go to that
people do not know me and it is this that I used to override the godfathers in Edo
State for two consecutive terms and even got the governor elected through
elections, no violence before becoming the national chairman.
“So, my attitude is not to reply
the noise and it is coming from somebody who says he is an employee and
appointee of Progressives Governors Forum. He is just like the cowards that are
using him that are not able to come out. Otherwise, you should ask this guy,
who is now an election expert.
“He contested for senate against
Makarfi, he lost. He even contested against governor el-Rufai during the
primaries and he lost, before Fayemi unilaterally appointed him the DG. So, if
he is now the spokesman abusing me and all of that, you want to drag me to his
level? No! A gentleman does not wrestle with a pig, if you do you will always
be stained and I don’t want to get into that.”
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