Obaseki: Where was EDO APC in 2016?

Obaseki: Where was EDO APC in 2016?

The Edo Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), should not forget that the state governor, Godwin Obaseki didn’t clinch the governorship stool through an opposition party. He had followed either due or undue process of the party before the party found him worthy and sold him to the good people of Edo which led to his victory at the poll. The reason why the Edo APC is probing Governor Obaseki credentials is apparent: he was said to have stepped on the toes of some unforgiving and mighty members of the party. Still, probing his credentials is needless and demeaning in all sense.

Let’s assume that Obaseki didn’t step on toes as some news media claimed, by now, he would have been enjoying a free ride. In fact, the Edo APC wouldn’t have been discussing his credentials as they are now. The three credits and three passes in his WAEC, as well as his university sojourn wouldn’t have been consumable on our dailies. And now that he had stepped on toes, the party has taken the position of opposition parties’ role and thereby probing its own son and sitting governor all in the name of stopping him from representing the party in the forthcoming September 19 governorship election.

Sadly, the former governor of Edo State and present National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who supposed to mediate, is allowing the rift between him and Obaseki to control him. It’s obvious that he doesn’t want Obaseki to be the party standard-bearer in the forthcoming election. Is he trying to tell us that he didn’t know about Obaseki’s credentials in 2016? The man he gave his full support and handed the governorship stool to? Didn’t APC’ NWC fact-check Governor Obaseki’s credentials before he was given the party ticket?

Governor Obaseki who would have been enjoying a free ride, has been informed through the APC’s NWC led by Adams Oshiomhole, to participate in the June 22 direct primary election of the party, else, he should forget representing the party in the forthcoming governorship election. The recently published Obaseki’s credentials alongside other five aspirants’ credentials by NWC, unequivocally, are courtesy of Comrade Oshiomhole. He believes that Obaseki’s re-election is a slap in the face. So, he has been employing all the tactics to flush him out. Governor Obaseki said he doesn’t believe he will get justice from the screening. It’s obvious!

Despite Obaseki’s grades in WAEC, he graduated from University of Ibadan. The first question that came to my mind was, how did the governor gain admission into University of Ibadan with his result? The same question must have stirred the probing of Obaseki’s credentials and university sojourn by the Edo APC. Still, the party mustn’t feign ignorance about the credentials.

However, using his credentials to stop him from clinching the party ticket hit the wall as his alma mater, University of Ibadan, cleared him. The university said Obaseki graduated from the school in 1979. But I am not interested in that. APC Edo seems not to know the consequence of its shameful and needless probing of Obaseki’s credentials. The party is unconsciously making its nepotism public. If you can feed some mouths within the party, you are good to go with any presented certificate. I won’t be surprised any day it is published that an APC serving governor, chairman or councillor was discovered to have emerged using a mere akara paper. We all saw what happened in Bayelsa. The probing of Obaseki’s credentials by the Edo APC is needless and demeaning. And if care is not taken, it would affect the party at the poll.

Aremu Lukman Umor, Ilorin, Kwara State

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