Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has carpeted the National Chairman of the All progressives Congress (APC) Adams Oshiomhole for attempting to harass him and his supporters.
He was responding to allegations that Oshiomhole who has been at logger heads with his successor over the control of the party, resorted to deploying police operatives from Abuja to harass his (governor’s) aides.
Obaseki said such desperate actions, aimed at causing panic in the his camp, showed that the Chairman has lost grip of politics in the state.
The Governor, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, added that Oshiomhole’s intent was an “attempt to plunge the state into chaos and cause panic in [his] camp.”
He stated this in response to the arrest of his security adviser, Andrew Momodu, at the weekend by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) with the intent of whisking him to Abuja.
Osagie’s statement had alleged that Mr. Momodu was arrested in a gestapo style.
According to him, “When Momodu resisted the unlawful arrest by the security agents, he was taken to the Police Headquarters in Benin, where he was held for an extended period until the Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu intervened.”
“Investigations revealed that security from Abuja had orders from above to pick up not less than 50 persons loyal to Obaseki, in an attempt to plunge the state into chaos and cause panic in the governor’s camp.
“Those penciled down for arrest, according to sources privy to the policemen’s modus operandi, including Special Adviser (SA) to the Governor on Political Matters in Edo South, Hon. Osaigbovo Iyoha.
“Others on the list are Albert Obazee, Kelly Okungbowa (popularly known as Ebo Stone) and Muktar-Osagie Muntari, who heads the state’s Public Works Volunteers (PUWOV).”
Obaseki and Oshiomhole have been at loggerheads over who controls the structure of the party in the state.