Edo coordinator of Buhari support group backs APC decampees, slams Obaseki

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7 years ago

Mr Henry Idahagbon

AGAINST the backdrop of what he described as the bad management of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo state, the state coordinator of the national committee for Buhari Support Group, Mr Henry Idahagbon, has declared his support for those leaving the party in droves to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Idahagbon, a former Edo state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice who spoke in Benin at the weekend said that he saw reason with those who defect from the party to the PDP in the state, adding that many of them have cause to defect as the party has not been well-managed in the last two years.

He said: “I sympathise with those who are defecting in Edo state. Many of them have reasons to defect. The truth is that the party has not been well-managed in the last two years. I make bold to say so without apology.”

The recent declaration by Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki that he will not use the state money to service a few greedy politicians in the state has drawn his ire, insisting that it was very unkind for the governor to turnaround and call politicians thieves, after helping him to win the 2016 governorship election.

The former chairman of Egor Local Government Area said that many APC chieftains would have defected to other political parties if not for the intervention of the national chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

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Idahagbon stated that some top members in the state have been called thieves, liars and people that liked money by the governor, adding that many Edo APC chieftains were persuaded and asked to give Oshiomhole the time and opportunity to look into issues in the state.

Idahagbon, however, said they would queue behind Governor Obaseki in next year’s general elections to defeat the PDP and ventilate whatever issues they have in 2020 during the governorship election.

“This is a state where politicians have been demonised as thieves, liars and people that like money. That is not correct. The politicians worked for the current government to come into the office. After working for a governor to come in, he cannot call us thieves. We are not thieves, we are not liars.”

“There are the good, the bad and ugly politicians. You cannot cover everybody with the same blanket. I believe that the intervention of Oshiomhole stopped many from defecting.

He reminded that by 2020 when the governorship election comes up, they will ventilate whatever issues they have, noting however that for now, they are queuing up behind Obaseki in order to deliver Buhari, win the 24 seats in the State Assembly and the National Assembly seats.

“We know when to fight and when to come together. The forthcoming elections in Edo are the Presidential, National Assembly and State Assembly. We do not have a governorship election in Edo. That is a different ball game.