By Adibe Emenyonu
Following the crisis between Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state and his predecessor, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Adams Oshiomhole and with the governor reportedly saying he was ready to make peace with Oshiomhole, his former Chief of Staff, Taiwo Akerele, who resigned his position few weeks ago due to alleged administrative lapses Tuesday said his position that dialogue and fence mending was the way out of the crisis had vindicated him.
Akerele who spoke on phone, said he had always maintained that the crisis between his former boss and Oshiomhole was political and could always be resolved through dialogue but at the end, “I was called all sorts of names by people who want to make money and enjoy themselves from the crisis.”
He said: “My position has always been that we are one big family, Oshiomhole is our Father not just being a former governor of the state but also the current national chairman of our party and that Governor Obaseki remains the leader of the party in the state. I said Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is our man anytime any day and he is best of friends with Godwin Obaseki and what was happening was a normal political disagreement which is settleable. Every other issue is subsumed under this sub issue.
“I had maintained that in any case, no matter the degree of war, dialogue and peaceful settlement remains the ultimate but rather than taking this step, I was vilified by some persons who believed that the only way to show loyalty was how much they attack somebody who was opposed to their principal and in any case you will now discover that what they did or said was for pecuniary interest and not necessarily to help the cause of their principal.”
