The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Mr Philip Shaibu, has accused a former governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole, of wanting to covertly seek a third term in office as the governor of Edo State through his alleged surrogate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

Shaibu, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Benjamin Atu, titled, ‘Oshiomhole seeking the third term as a governor through Ize-Iyamu,’ said the former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress was seeking a third term by proxy.

He said, “The truth is that Ize-Iyamu is merely a stooge. The real man seeking the governorship position is Adams Oshiomhole who has perfected the plan to betray democracy by seeking a third term in office. The price that Oshiomhole will pay for projecting Ize-Iyamu is an outright rejection.

“Oshiomhole is displaying blind compassion with a specific pledge to return the state to  the path of backwardness with failed institutions where individuals will be more powerful than government institutions with an analogue system of operations. Technological development has since left Oshiomhole behind in the scheme of things.”

The deputy governor said the state had a choice  between policies of the heart by Governor Godwin Obaseki and policies of the head as currently being propagated by enemies of the state.

“The people of Edo State subscribed voluntarily to the principle of Obaseki because they have seen these principles at work all over the state. We cannot risk the future of Edo State with a man’s shrunken aspirations.

“Our campaign is based on the affirmation of what we have done and still capable of doing, by drawing our strength from the masses to deal with all our vulnerabilities,” he said.

Reacting to Shaibu’s statement, the Edo State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Chris Azebamwan, said the deputy governor was chasing a shadow.

Azebamwan said, “It is laughable to accuse Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of seeking a third term by proxy. He was governor for eight years and more recently, the National Chairman of the ruling party at both federal and Edo State until Godwin Obaseki betrayed the mandate freely given to him by the Edo people.

“The vision and the mission of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress, is lucidly spelt out in his manifesto which he tagged, SIMPLE agenda. Shaibu and his boss, Godwin Obaseki, know they cannot fault the document, and they don’t have an agenda of their own to offer Edo people.

“In their cluelessness, they have resorted to name-calling and mudslinging. They believe they can distract and hoodwink Edo people by hinging their campaigns on persons, instead of issues. Perhaps they should be reminded that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is not on the final list of candidates for Edo 2020.

“With the emergence of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu as the APC candidate, Edo people should not just expect a better life, they should prepare to live it.”

appealed for calm, saying a joint investigation team comprising the state government and the company that owned the facility had begun investigation into the cause of the spill.

The Punch