*Six Petitions filed against Gov
*C’ttee screens him, five others
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State departed the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial screening room in Abuja around 10 pm on Wednesday, expressing misgivings at the operations of the committee, saying with Comrade Adams Oshiomhole dictating affairs of the party, he cannot get justice.
The APC screened its six aspirants with the screening committee receiving six petitions against the governor and one against Mr. Mathew Iduoriyekemwe. The screening is coming ahead of its June 22 governorship primary election in Edo state.
The Vanguard reported Obaseki as saying: “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 engine 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 were 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.”
Multiple party sources who confirmed the number of petitions against the duo however declined to reveal the identities of the petitioners or the contents of the petition. Obaseki had stormed the national secretariat with his supporters at about 1 pm, but no sooner had he entered the secretariat than he rushed back into his car and left the premises.
The four aspirants who were screened aside Obaseki were former Deputy Governor, Dr. Pius Odubu, former Minister of State, Works, Engr. Chris Ogiemwonyi, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, and Hon. Osaro Obazee.
While Odubu left the secretariat at 5:30 pm, Ize-Iyamu left an hour later. The report of the committee is expected to be submitted to the National Working Committee NWC of the party on completion of its assignment.
Addressing journalists before going into the closed-door screening, Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Jonathan Ayuba who explained that the responsibility of the committee was to verify the documents submitted by the aspirants, added that his team was not a quasi-judicial body and therefore could not pass any judgment.
He said; “We took this challenge not because it is easy. It is complex and we are putting our integrity at stake. We are not a judicial committee and we are not investigating. Ours is to verify and verification of whatever is submitted to us is based on evidence and also facts. So, that is what we are going to be dealing with.
“Ours is to do our assignment, ours is not to pass judgment because we are not a court of law, Ours is to make recommendations. And I urge you to wait for the official release of such recommendations by the party.
“We are going to interact with all those that indicated interests and if there is any issue, we will raise it with them. There is a difference between a judicial commission. After all, we cannot make a pronouncement because we are not a court of law. The document before us is the same document we are going to present to all those that have purchased the forms. So our interaction is based on that.”
Obaseki returns for Screening
At about 7:59 pm, Gov. Obaseki however returned to the national secretariat of the APC to be screened to participate in the June 22 Governorship Primary Election of the party.
He was accompanied by his associates including Sen. Domingo Obende. Minutes before he returned to the Secretariat, the governor had raised an alarm about alleged attempts by the committee not to screen him. At about 9:15 pm, Mr. Iduoriyekemwe arrived at the party secretariat for screening.
Earlier in the day when Obaseki first reported to the secretariat and left moments after, certain media reported that he left because he could not provide original copies of his credentials to the committee.
In a swift reaction, Obaseki’s Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie set the record straight.
In the statement, Osagie said: “The Screening Committee set up by the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) to screen candidates to fly the flag of the party in the forthcoming gubernatorial election, failed to screen the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, on Wednesday, June 10, 2020.”
Osagie said the governor had arrived at the National Secretariat of the party early for screening but the committee was not ready.
“The governor arrived early but the screening committee was not ready. He was given the options to either wait for one hour or if he had an appointment to keep, he could go and call them to know if they were ready.
“The governor, who had a Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) meeting, went for the meeting and called when he was done, but the members of the screening committee did not pick their phones.”
