By Adesina Soyooye
Respected Pastor of the Trinity House Church, Itua Ighodalo, says former Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Adams Oshiomhole, is fighting for political relevance.
Ituah, a native of Edo State, who spoke in an interview monitored, and published by the Saturday Vanguard, was analysing the problem between Oshiomhole and his estranged political godson, Governor Godwin Obaseki, and the state of Edo State.
Oshiomhole and Obaseki, in the past several months, have been enmeshed in a dirty fight which factionalised the APC in the, and cost both men heavily.
Obaseki was denied a second term ticket by the APC, forcing him to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, where he picked the party’s Governorship ticket.
On the other hand, Oshiomhole lost his plum office as the National Chairman of the APC, over his squables with Obaseki.
Explaining that he knew the relationship between both men, long before their bitter quarrel, he said that Obaseki worked on the Governorship candidacy of Oshiomhole, raising money for the project, and heading the Economic team.
But Pastor Ighodala was quick to add that Oshiomhole did not ask Obaseki to.
He said: “When Oshiomhole decided to run, he did not consult Obaseki as such, but the latter decided to help volunteer to help the ex-NLC President with economic blueprint, running around raising money, encouraging him and so on, and so forth.
“Nonetheless, Oshiomhole became governor, and Obaseki left everything he was doing in Lagos, where he was running a very good financial institution because he wanted to support, first and foremost, Edo State, and secondly, Oshiomhole with an economic plan, and economic blueprint.
“They set-up an economic team with my brother, Asue Ighodalo, as a major member of the team, and I know they would go to Benin for days and nights, at their own expense, holding meetings on how to prepare the grounds for the success of that administration.
“Even Oshiomhole had acknowledged that Obaseki didn’t cost him any money, but instead, raised money for him.”
On Oshiomhole’s position now, Pastor Ighodalo said: “Comrade Oshiomhole is fighting for his own political relevance. He feels that Governor Godwin Obaseki is obligated to him, having helped and assisted Obaseki to become governor.”
On the September 22 governorship election, and the chances of Obaseki, Ighodalo said: “I think he (Obaseki) stands a good chance of winning the election. He has worked hard in the State.
“The educational system has gone up with everybody electronic now. The young children are doing very well. And their parents are very happy, and the residents have given him a name ‘wake and see governor’.
“He did a lot of roads and infrastructure. He built secretariat that has been abandoned. He is trying to wake up a lot of things, even industries, and some other sectors.”
Obaseki’s main challenger in the September 19 election is Oshiomhole-backed APC candidate, Ize-Iyamu.
