The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State Osagie Ize-Iyamu said he is no hand in the ongoing leadership crisis of the Edo State House of Assembly.
Ize-Iyamu, while speaking to journalist after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, said claims that he organised the usurping of the Edo State House of Assembly were not true.
“Let me debunk the statement that 17 members of the State House of Assembly sat in my sitting room, it is not true,” Ize-Iyamu said.
He also said that there was no truth in the insinuations that President Buhari did not want to see him, describing it as a falsehood being spread by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Ize-Iyamu accused the opposition PDP of dragging the name of former APC chairman Adams Oshiomhole into matters that are untrue about his campaign for the governorship election.
He blamed Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki for the rising political tension in the state, saying that as one who does not have immunity, he will not make trouble because “I don’t want to go to jail.”
Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu said the decision of his APC counterparts to endorse Ize-Iyamu was predicated on widespread consultations by all the party stakeholders.
“The question has been asked whether all APC governors are in full support of our candidate and the simple answer is yes. It is laughable to suggest otherwise,” Bagudu said.
“Since the ratification, all the APC governors have been working in different ways to ensure the success of our party. And let me just remind some of you, this is not different from what we have done before.
“Four years ago we were in the same Edo state in very difficult election, and we supported the incumbent governor then, Adams Oshiomole to campaign for the party which saw the emergence of Godwin Obaseki as governor, what we are doing today is not different.
“For the Progressive Governors’ Forum, the defining thing is continuity of All Progressives Congress in governance at the federal and across Nigeria, and we will support our party any day. Our president has made it very clear about his expectations as to deliver our party in any elections, and that is what we are going to do.”
