Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy in this interview with TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI, speaks on the forthcoming governorship election in the state, chances of his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki who is seeking reelection under the platform of the All Progressives Congress and other sundry issues. Excerpts:

The Edo state governorship election has been scheduled for September 19 and the primaries will hold in June. How prepared is your principal, Gov­ernor Godwin Obaseki?

We have not left any stone unturned in preparation for the primaries. The governor of Edo state, His Excellency, Governor Godwin Obaseki is one hundred percent ready. We are certain that we are getting the APC ticket and we are also confident that Gover­nor Obaseki is going to fly the flag of the APC during the forthcom­ing gubernatorial election in Edo state. Considering the approval rating that the governor current­ly enjoys in the state, we are also very optimistic that Governor Obaseki will be re-elected on Sep­tember 19 when the governorship election will take place and he will be sworn-in on the 12th of Novem­ber 2020 for a second term.

There is this belief that getting the APC’s ticket will be a herculean task for him as the national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole has already penciled down one of his loyalists to clinch the ticket. What do you say to that?

That is what people loyal to the national chairman have been saying. They are saying they want to see how the governor will win the primary with Oshiomhole as national chairman. They are also saying even if Obaseki wins, they will go and change the results and send the name of their preferred candidate to INEC. But I think any loyal member of APC should have learnt a thing or two from what has happened in some states across the country. They must have learnt that impunity does not go unpunished. Under Oshiom­hole as national chairman, they perpetrated impunity in Zamfara state and the party was severely punished for it. The same also happened in Rivers and we were not even allowed to participate in the governorship election. Re­cently, we all saw what happened in Bayelsa state; not only was the primaries badly managed, the candidates presented to INEC by the national leadership of the par­ty were defective but because of personal interests and the knack for impunity, they went ahead and fielded them. We won the election but a day to the inauguration; we lost at the courts again. So, if you look at what has happened to the APC in the past year or two, you will see that the real owners of the APC who are the actual leaders of the party will need to see to the fact that impunity becomes a thing of the past. So, to that ex­tent, we don’t believe that Adams Oshiomhole whether he is still in position as national chairman during the primaries will have the power to tinker with the outcome of the results or cause further problems for the party. We know that once things are done in an or­derly manner and in accordance with the rules and due diligence, the governor will emerge the win­ner of the primaries by a very wide margin. We have no worries at all. The structures of the par­ty in the state are firmly under the control of the governor and that has guaranteed us the APC ticket going into the elections in September.

The media has also reported about a gang- up against the governor’s re-election by four aspirants. Are you worried about that development?

There is no threat from these people at all. Yes, there is a gang-up but it is a gang-up of very weak candidates. The only one that could have been considered a very formidable candidate among them was Osagie Ize-Iyamu who is from the PDP. But the reality is that he has been rejected from where he was before; so he decided to seek refuge in APC. He tried to join the APC illegally and that gave him serious problems. Above all, one major albatross against him is that he is currently standing trial for corruption; N750m fraud charge was preferred against him by the EFCC and this is similar to the trial of Olisa Metuh, former PDP spokesman. They were both accused of collecting money from the former National Security Ad­viser to prosecute elections. Just imagine if Metuh is the candidate of a political party in an election, with the jail term he got, what would have happened to his can­didacy? We believe that based onthe corruption allegation hang­ing on his neck, Ize- Iyamu is out of the race. He has to first clear his name before the EFCC before thinking of aspiring to be gover­nor. Don’t get me wrong here. I am not saying he doesn’t have a right to contest but fielding him as a candidate with such a weighty allegation against him by the EFCC may land the APC in trouble just like it happened in Bayelsa.

The other three aspirants joining Ize-Iyamu in ganging up against the governor are ex­tremely weak candidates. Pius Odubu is not a grassroots poli­tician. If you can recall, he was deputy governor to Oshiomhole for eight years, yet nobody knew his name. Chris Ogiemwonyi is also not a force to reckon with in the politics of Edo today. The last among them, General Charles Airhiavbere is also encumbered with corruption allegations. In fact, if you check the records, Os­hiomhole accused him of stealing money from the Army during the campaigns. So, these are extreme­ly weak candidates. They cannot compete against the governor. The party, both at the state and national levels know that the fastest route to the APC winning the 2020 governorship election in Edo state is Godwin Obaseki. So, why should we change the win­ning formula?

There is also the talk of the ‘Ambode treatment’ for the governor. How will you respond to that?

The question you should ask them is ‘who is going to bell the cat? Who will give the governor the Ambode treatment? Is it the embattled national chairman or his foot soldiers in the EPM? In the case of former governor Akinwunmi Ambode,it is clear what happened. He did not have a firm grip on anything in Lagos state. He has no firm grip of the political structures in the state; he has no firm grip of the House of Assembly and also, he has no firm grip of his cabinet. During the governorship primaries, his Deputy Governor and the SSG voted against him. Here in Edo, you all know that Comrade Phil­lip Shaibu, the deputy governor is firmly and solidly behind his principal, the governor. Not only that the SSG, Chief of Staff and the state chairman of the party, Barrister Anselm Ojezua are solidly behind the governor. In Lagos, all the party elders were against Ambode but here in Edo, notable leaders, like the irrepressible and highly charis­matic Charles Idahosa, a former Commissioner for Information in this state are rooting for Obaseki. During a recent interview, Obase­ki said APC should be prepared to kiss Edo goodbye if they deny Obaseki the ticket. The former national chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun is also firmly in support of the gover­nor. So, there is no similarity be­tween what happened in Lagos and what is happening in Edo state. Obaseki, like I said before is firmly and effectively in control of both the party structure and the government in Edo state. In the primaries, he is going to win seamlessly and fly the party’s flag in the governorship election in September.
https://www.independent.ng/those-ganging-up-against-obaseki-are-weak-candidates-osagie/

Edo no be Lagos

i tell you my brother. Obaseki is not Ambode

OZAOEKPE:
Edo no be Lagos

Crusoe osagie is a fool. Who know you in edo politics?
continue ranting, it's just a little while. Na people like u obaseki hope on abi?
I dey laffffff........

How can you say the governors spokesman is not popular?

famology:
Crusoe osagie is a fool. Who know you in edo politics?
continue ranting, it's just a little while. Na people like u obaseki hope on abi?
I dey laffffff........

hisexcellency34:
How can you say the governors spokesman is not popular?

Hahahahahaha. ... who's Crusoe osagie?
I can bet over 90% of Edo people didn't know him until he was appointed to lie for the government of the day.
As far as Edo politics is concerned he's a nobody.

The thing is, Buhari won't interfere. Maybe Abba Kyaari can do
If Obaseki can get presidency support, there is nothing Oshiomhjoole can do

I thought he was a former House of Reps member in Edo too?

famology:




Hahahahahaha. ... who's Crusoe osagie?
I can bet over 90% of Edo people didn't know him until he was appointed to lie for the government of the day.
As far as Edo politics is concerned he's a nobody.

hisexcellency34:
I thought he was a former House of Reps member in Edo too?

Who dash monkey banana? Maybe you're referring to Samson osagie.

nairavsdollars:
If Obaseki can get presidency support, there is nothing Oshiomhjoole can do

Ambode had presidency support.
All politics are local.

Oh.i just checked. That one is Samson like u said

famology:



Who dash monkey banana? Maybe you're referring to Samson osagie.