Tension in Edo as APC Party leaders set for payback during next primary election 

Just the same way party leaders’ upturn what will have been a smooth drive for Ex-Lagos Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to rule the state for the second consecutive term, party leaders of Edo State are determine to do same against the incumbent governor Obaseki. A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Comrade Godwin Erhahon, has described as unnecessary, the tension over whether or not Governor Godwin Obaseki would secure a second term ticket.

Erhahon said it was too early for party chieftains to fight over who gets the party ticket for the 2020 governorship election.

The chieftain, who addressed reporters in Benin City, blamed Obaseki for the tension and crisis rocking the Edo APC.

According to him, the party has been run in a manner that does not sustain and promote the original foundation of the party since Obaseki assumed office.

He said: “Whether Obaseki will contest or not is too early to generate the kind of heat that is generating now in Edo. But, unfortunately, Obaseki is responsible for the tension because he has been able to establish himself as a man with hatred and ego.

“After the 2016 governorship primaries, Obaseki has been hostile to his co-contestant and those who did not support. He has also refused to recognise any of his co-contestants as a party leader.

“A good politician, once you win the primaries, does away with the acrimony generated during the campaign, and brings everybody on board, but when you relegate stakeholders and leaders who contested with you, there is no way they will not fight for relevance.

“If Obaseki had not been hostile to too many people, the battle would not have been this hot. It is not absolutely true that all those who are against him are doing so in solidarity with former Governor Adams Oshiomhole, but because Obaseki has done everything desperately to suppress party leaders, and we going for another primary, they also want to prove a point that they are relevant.”