As expected, Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has been disqualified from the primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to choose a gubernatorial candidate for reasons bordering on his academic qualifications.
Curiously, he has said he will not contest the position of the party’s screening committee, raising speculations he may either be headed for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or another party to slug it out with whoever may emerge from the APC. Many believe Pastor Ize Iyamu, backed by National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, may pick the ticket.
There were speculations on Friday evening he has picked the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) membership card at Ward 4 of Oredo Local Government Area. There was independent confirmation of the information.
In a statement by his spokesman, Crusoe Osagie, the governor described Oshiomhole’s running of the party as a mockery adding that it has been an unfortunate, disheartening, and dreadful spectacle.
He said it is an “open show of shame, illegality, and travesty of justice is the brand of democracy which Comrade Oshiomhole has reduced the APC into”.
He added: “We have therefore decided that it would be an effort in futility to appeal whatever the unjust outcome of the evaluation and screening process of the APC will be, especially when Comrade Oshiomhole has declared that he is the Supreme Court and ultimate determiner of the fate and future of our great party.
“We wish Oshiomhole well in his maladministration of the party and trust that the Almighty will help our country to find the path to true liberty, freedom, and justice.”
Obaseki and Oshiomhole have been at daggers-drawn for months.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja on Friday, the Chairman of the Screening committee, Prof Jonathan Ayuba, stated that the disqualification was based on the governor’s certificate and age discrepancies.
Ayuba said: “The job is difficult because it came at the most difficult times in the history of our democracy. We were thorough in our work. We want to be judged by what we have done not party politics.
“We went beyond screening but didn’t investigate much. Our report should be based on the fact we presented, not on assumptions. We finished on Thursday but left it till today which has become democracy Day.
Recall that when he earlier showed up at the APC Secretariat for screening, Obaseki had questioned the integrity of the exercise. His words: “The last time I came here, I asked that Oshiomhole recuse himself from the process in the interest of peace and justice. But as a party man, I have had to go through the screening like everybody else.
“Since he is the judge and the jury in this matter, I will just wait for the outcome of the screening. I have given them all the information they need; the controversial certificate from the University of Ibadan has been tendered.
“Like I said, as a party man I have to go through the screening process but I do not believe that I will get justice because Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is an interested party in the Edo process.
“One of the questions that was asked was why did I issue a gazette that will prevent the party from performing direct elections in Edo. That did I not see it as an anti-party activity? I just felt that if we put politics above the lives of the people of Edo State, then we may be missing the point.”