Godwin Obaseki, the governor of Edo State, has denied betraying Adams Oshiomhole, the national chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
Mr Obaseki, who is interested in retaining his position as the state governor, made the denial on Wednesday after submitting his expression of interest and nomination form to the party at its National Headquarters.
Addressing reporters after the submission, the governor narrated how he assisted the former governor reclaim his mandate at the court after being defeated at the poll by Oserheimen Osunbor, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when Oshiomhole contested for governor after leaving the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
Oshiomhole had ran as governor under the defunct Action Congress (AC), one of the merger parties than formed the now ruling APC.
Messrs Obaseki and Oshiomhole have been testing their nights in a bid to showcase who is more popular in the state politically. The APC helmsman is hell bent on frustrating the governor and ensuring he does not secure another term in office.
“In life, everybody gets helped, everybody gets assisted. The person you talked about (Oshiomhole), he had no money when he left labour to contest. We knew what we did to make him Governor,” Obaseki said.
“I sacrificed eight years of my life pro bono, I collected no kobo to serve him in Edo. Today, we know what we have built because of where we started from. So, when you talk of betrayal, the biggest betrayal can be when people betray a cause, when they betray an idea.
“So, when you talk about betrayal, let us be very clear. I want to put it on record that I am grateful, he assisted me just as I assisted him. I know the sacrifices we made to make him national chairman,” he added.
The governor also warned the national chairman to steer clear of the party primary slated for June 22 because, according to him, the former governor is an interested party.
“I am using this opportunity to call on Comrade Oshiomhole to recuse himself from the Edo nomination process because he is an interested party,” Obaseki advised
“It is against natural justice for a man to be a judge in his own case. So I think the honourable thing to do is to recuse himself and let us have a free process and let us reconcile and build our party.
“I believe that ours is a lawful party and we will do things according to the Constitution of our party. So, direct or indirect, I am certain I will win the primaries but we have to respect our constitution and follow our constitution,” he added.
Obaseki is expected to face Osagie Ize-iyamu, another aspirant of the party believed to enjoy the support of the former governor.
