In recent times, the APC in the state has been enmeshed in a crisis between Governor Godwin Obaseki, and other factions, especially the one led by the party’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.
Some leaders of the All Progressives Congress in Edo State have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure a free and fair primary of the party ahead of the governorship election in the state scheduled for September.
In recent times, the APC in the state has been enmeshed in a crisis between Governor Godwin Obaseki, and other factions, especially the one led by the party’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.
Expressing their concerns in a letter to President Buhari, Stanley Odidi, a former Chairman of Etsako-East Local Government Council; Sam Oboh, a former Chairman of Esan North-East Local Government Council; and Etinosa Ogbeiwi, a former member, Edo State House of Assembly, said the people of the state were tired of the crisis in the party and state and therefore wanted a change.
The group’s letter to Buhari followed a recent letter by another faction of the party in Edo allegedly aimed at smearing the personality of Ize-Iyamu, who is a governor aspirant on the platform of the APC.
The letter written to Buhari reads, “Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, who is the primary target of the said letter of lies, is not as falsely claimed by the faceless authors of the letter, a three-month-old member of our great party, the APC.
“On the contrary, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, more than being part and parcel of our great party from the very beginning, was in the inner circle of the great personalities instrumental in the formation of the party.
“Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s undisputed role in the formation of the APC is shown by the sensitive positions he held in the APC during and after its formation.
“In the letter of lies sent to Your Excellency, the faceless authors mentioned the 2016 governorship campaign in Edo State, in a futile bid to revive the fierce exchanges that are normal during electoral campaigns.
“However, they sought to hinge on the exchanges to spread the falsehood that Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu is not politically marketable. They mentioned that Adams Oshiomhole, while campaigning vigorously against Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, made statements which are neither unusual nor unexpected in a political campaign.
“Mr President, we believe that the falsehoods contained in the letter of lies demonstrate that those behind the letter are desperate to ruin the electoral fortune of the APC if they do not have their way.
“In the unlikely event that the APC makes a similar mistake by fielding Mr Godwin Obaseki in the forthcoming governorship election, we shall suffer similar judicial misfortune as happened in Bayelsa, because Godwin Obaseki’s educational credentials are riddled with manifest and incurable inconsistencies.”
The leadership of the APC has tried to broker peace among all warring factions of the party in the state without a breakthrough – a move observers say could greatly hamper their success at the polls in September.