Former Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, Mr Samson Osagie, has said that it was wrong for Governor Adams Oshiomhole to endorse Mr Godwin Obaseki ahead of the 2016 governorship election, warning that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, may lose the governorship election if a level playing field was not provided for them.
He said: “This fear is palpable among APC members and some of the party’s apologists across the state. I have no reason to deny that same exists, especially as one of the latest victims of a mismanaged electoral process in the 2015 general election by the ruling APC.
The party mismanaged that election when candidates who won primaries particularly in the Ovia axis of the Edo South senatorial district were denied their tickets and the lack of planning and preparations by the party for the election.
“This year’s governorship election is going to be the true test of Governor Oshiomhole’s capacity to sustain his party’s hold on power in the state or lack of it. There is no doubt that he is already on the way to causing the party irreparable damage by the way things are going in the party just now.
This position is underscored by the deliberate attempt and action of those who hold the reins of authority in the state to label some aspirants and their supporters as enemies of the governor who must be dealt with while others must be submerged politically, all in a bid to secure ticket for an anointed candidate who by himself does not understand the ensuing dynamics of the state politics particularly in Edo South.
“It’s almost forgotten by those who have constituted a cabal around the governor and himself that there is going to be an election after the primaries and one wonders whether the bad blood that is being encouraged and fuelled by the sycophants around the governor just now will deliver the votes when the real election comes sometime in July.
“The governor must know and realize quickly that he is not going to be on the ballot and as such he must be mindful not to become a campaign director to any aspirant who seeks to govern Edo people at least before the primaries.”(Vanguard)
