Obaseki To Oshiomhole: You Taught Me How To Fight Godfathers

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has said his predecessor who is now the National Chairman on the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, set the pace of fighting godfathers in the state.

Obaseki said this against the backdrop of the lingering feud between him and Oshiomhole.

Oshiomhole had helped Obaseki succeed him as governor in 2016 when he left office.

The feud is said to have split the State’s House of Assembly between loyalists of the Edo governor and his predecessor, coupled with allegations that the APC chairman was plotting to plant his loyalists as principal officers in the House.

Speaking while receiving an ad-hoc committee set up to look into the crisis in House, Obaseki, who was represented by his deputy, Philip Shaibu, said he would continue to follow Oshiomhole’s legacy of fighting overbearing godfathers in the interest of the state.

“What we have here is somebody trying to use the house to control the executive. We feel that we have fought godfather. Oshiomhole led us to a strong fight to rescue the state from the hands of godfathers in 2006,” Obaseki said.

“We have joined the crusade Oshiomhole started in 2007. We will not go back on the crusade because it is helping Edo people. We can now galvanise the people because they can see roads, they can see schools and infrastructure. This is because the money that used to go the godfathers now go to the people.

“Oshiomhole has taught us to follow the path of the people. He told us to do the needful and make sure we fight the godfathers and take the money back to the people. That is what he taught us and we will not depart from it.

“Those ones have not been sworn in and they decided to abscond. I have contacted them and some of them told me certain things. I said we will deal with them. I said they must be members of the Assembly first before the discussion will take place.

“Somebody is interested in derailing them and the reality on ground. They are not elected to serve in Abuja. They should come to be sworn in first. I can assure you that I will bridge the gap between the governor and the legislature. We need peace because we want to turn Edo to investment hub,” the governor said.

Meanwhile, the feud between Obaseki and his estranged ‘godfather’, Oshiomhole, came ahead of the state’s governorship election in 2020.