Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, says he will not get justice from a committee set up by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to vet aspirants seeking to get the party’s ticket ahead of the governorship election.
The screening process lasted for about two hours at the APC national secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday.
Obaseki went through the process hours after Crusoe Osagie, media aide to the governor, said the committee delayed him for hours.
“The governor arrived early but the screening committee was not ready,” Osagie had said earlier in a statement on Wednesday.
“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.
Obaseki during the screening
“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.”
He eventually met the panel.
Speaking with journalists after the exercise, Obaseki said he is not sure of getting justice because Adams Oshiomhole, APC national chairman, has refused to recuse himself from the process.
“Like I said, as a party man I had to go 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,” the governor said.
“One of the questions 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?”
Oshiomhole is believed to be backing Osagie Ize-Iyamu, a governorship aspirant, for the party’s ticket.
Ize-Iyamu had contested against Obaseki on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2016 but lost.
The APC primary election is scheduled for June 22.
Obaseki in late-night session as APC screen Edo aspirants
by John Alechenu, Abuja
The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki has expressed fears that he may not get justice since the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole was the “judge” in the case.
He said this while speaking to journalists soon after undergoing two hours of screening at the party’s headquarters, in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said, “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.
“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 was asked was why did I issue a gazette that will prevent the party from performing direct elections in Edo.
“I just felt that if we put politics above the lives of the people of Edo State, we may be missing the point”.
Obaseki’s screening begun at about 8pm after four other aspirants namely – Osaro Obaze, Chris Ogiemwonyi, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and Dr Pius Odubu – had been screened.
The governor who had arrived the venue earlier in the day left to attend a meeting of the Nigeria Governors Forum.