Leave Captain Okunbor Out Of Your Woes: APC Chieftain Tells Obaseki

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has been asked to leave foremost Bini businessman, Captain Hosa Okunbor out his fight with some members of the political fraternity in Edo State.

Comrade Godwin Erhahon, immediate Past Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Congress, APC, Edo State, makes the warning in a statement on Friday.

Erhahon, who was also the former Chairman, defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the state, said the Governor should “desist from his desperate attempt to rub our foremost Benin patriot and philanthropist, Capt. Hosa Okunbor with the stench of his sweat as he battles to destroy those who made him governor.”

According to him, Obaseki’s “raging campaign of calumny, through his hatchet men, accusing peace loving Capt. Okunbor of financing his enemies against him, is the latest of his move towards destroying his benefactors.

“At first, they alleged that the patriotic industrialist was aspiring to challenge him in next year’s governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Capt. Okunbor openly debunked the allegation and reassured that as a patriotic businessman and a loyal subject of the Oba of Benin, he was not interested in occupying any public office, let alone contesting election. He vowed that his commitment was to the peace and development of Edo State, not to fuel any political crises.

The former APC spokesman added that “Long before his open rebuttal of the rumour, I had met Capt. Hosa, one-on-one, to probe his speculated interest in the governorship contest and he told me bluntly that he was not interested in the governorship race or any elective office. As one who brokered the return of Capt. Hosa to APC in 2015, I cannot watch idly as these sadist desperadoes attempt to make the great son of Benin Kingdom regret his support for APC.

He then advised Governor Obaseki to humbly approach Capt. Hosa to use “his influence and goodwill to negotiate safe landing for him in his self-consuming battle against his benefactors, rather than attempting to malign the patriot who is too busy pursuing peace, philanthropy and development to join any party in an unholy war.”

The battle for political supremacy between APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole and his erstwhile political godson, Governor Obaseki has festered with no end in sight.

The APC National Working Committee had, at its meeting in Abuja last week, raised a five-member fact-finding committee on the crisis rocking the Edo State chapter of the party.

The committee is chaired by Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.

Other members of the committee are Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Bello Masari; former governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi; former governor of Borno State and serving senator, Kashim Shettima; and a former member of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Wadada (Secretary).