* Governor Obaseki of Edo State
The Obaseki/Shaibu Movement (OSM) has rejected the All Progressives Congress (APC) national reconciliation committee led by Senate President Ahmad Lawan that was constituted by the APC National Working Committee (NWC) to resolve the crisis rocking the party
OSM’s mandate is to work for the re-election of Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and his Deputy Philip Shaibu.
The rejection was made known in a statement by the convener of the group, Mr Damian Lawani.
Governor Obaseki and APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole have been at each other’s throat for what politicians have termed supremacy battle
OSM Convener Damian Lawani said some of the reconciliation committee members had vested interests. He questioned their neutrality
According to OSM, “We categorically reject the National Reconciliation Committee constituted by the APC NWC because we have seen the duplicity in the act. The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Wase, are members of the newly-announced committee and their inclusion is not only pregnant with meaning but also symptomatic of the intent of Comrade Oshiomhole to continue the lingering fight against his political enemies.”
It continued, “Comrade Oshiomhole, Nigerians will recall, enlisted the services of Senator Lawan and Hon. Wase to carry out his plan of taking over the powers of the Edo State House of Assembly until they were stopped in their tracks by the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt. “The National Assembly was, thereby, restrained from continuing in their perfidious ambition, which was to muscle Governor Obaseki. The court thwarted this move. Now, Comrade Oshiomhole wants to make a mockery of the law by using the National Reconciliation Committee to actuate his plans through the back door”.
The group alleged that NWC’s action shows that Oshiomhole was still out to hound his political enemies by putting his allies on the committee.
“We are not convinced that the committee will be fair to all parties in the matter, especially as it relates to Edo State, which we know is the main target of the national chairman. This is because we suspect that the committee would be presented with a script they would come and act out on the Edo crisis. To that extent, we wholesomely reject the committee and request that a committee that will do justice to the matter without prejudice be constituted,” the group demanded”. the OSM statement reads.
