Except President Muhammadu Buhari intervenes, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has perfected plans to have Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State disqualified from contesting as an aspirant in the party’s Edo State governorship primary election scheduled for June 22, 2020, THEWILL can report exclusively.
Oshiomhole, who is strongly opposed to Obaseki’s reelection, has mobilized key members of the party’s national executive as well as aggrieved chieftains of the party in the state, to thwart the embattled governor’s bid and ensure that Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the aspirant that he has propped emerges the candidate of the party for the governorship election set for September 19, 2020.
Top party sources familiar with the plan told THEWILL that the Screening and Appeal Committees which are expected to screen all the governorship aspirants for the election between June 10th and June 12th, will not clear Obaseki to participate in the primary.
“Comrade is not taking chances with Obaseki. He won’t let him contest in the primary election at all. He is hell bent on destroying the governor politically before he leaves his position as national chairman later this year.
“There is a plan to use the screening and appeal committees to finally shut Obaseki out of the primary contest for good. This will easily pave the way for Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, his anointed candidate to emerge the APC governorship flagbearer. Obaseki is toast except Baba Buhari intervenes,” one national party leader with direct knowledge of the plot, who asked to remain anonymous, told THEWILL.
THEWILL can also report that Obaseki has also foreclosed defecting to the main opposition party in the state, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to pursue his second term bid as expected despite the strong head wind ahead for him.
The governor, who enjoys overwhelming support from the party’s executive in the state and across the local government areas, spoke in Abuja Tuesday, saying he would remain in the APC and take on the challenges and obstacles on his path to returning as governor.
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“When the going gets tough, the tough get going. The war has become very tough but men would be separated from the boys,” the governor told members of the Obaseki Mandate Group, who visited him at Edo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.
“I have chosen the party that brought me in the first place, the APC. No matter the challenges, I will run on the platform of my party. And I’m sure by the grace of God, I will overcome.
“I’m not saying I won’t have contestants – of course, democracy is about contestations…
“Tell me what you want to do for the people, and I will tell you what I can do. Tell me what you have done for the people and I will also tell the people what I have done for them, and the people will make a choice that is what democracy is about; that is what our democracy should be.
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going. The war has become very tough, with COVID-19, the challenges ahead of us are enormous and that is when you are going to separate the men from the boys,” the governor said.
THEWILL recalls that a delegation of APC governors held a meeting with an influential leader of the party, Senator Bola Tinubu to help resolve the protracted quarrel between Oshiomhole and Obaseki. They also met with Oshiomhole on Monday to broker a truce without any success.
