4th February, 2016
Jethro Ibileke/Benin
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state has been urged by the former Minority Whip of the Federal House of Representatives, Samson Osagie, to reconsider his hard stance he suddenly developed in recent times against his deputy, Pius Odubu.
In a statement made available to journalists in Benin, Osagie challenged Oshiomhole to tell the people of the state the offences Odubu had committed to warrant the comment credited to him that the deputy governor is unfit to govern the state.
According to him, the ongoing silent war between Governor Oshiomhole and his deputy could be described as the proverbial “giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it.”
While disagreeing with the governor that Odubu committed any offence which he never told Edo people in the almost 8 years of their being in government, the former lawmaker asked Oshiomhole to state specifically the exact scenario playing out between him and his deputy, who he formerly described as the best deputy governor ever, but suddenly becomes unfit to govern Edo state.
“Dr Odubu is not a man given to over indulgence or ambition tending to make him outshine his master.
He has demonstrated enormous candour and tenacity of purpose in serving as the number two man to a very active and proactive boss who will not leave anything to chance.
“Will the governor have been vilifying his deputy the way he is doing now if the latter has not shown interest in succeeding him? I dare say no. I hate unfair treatment to innocent people. This is simply unfair. No matter what, Odubu is our own and we cannot allow him to be destroyed by a man he has served so loyally for which he has been accused of not being confrontational to by any means.
“The problem the deputy governor has with some of those saying he should be crucified now is that he refused to heed their ill counsel to engage his boss over issues that were resolved amicably. He is a man who respects and obeys superior authority. That does not make him unintelligent or unable to decipher what is right or wrong.
“Given the chance, he will make or achieve tremendously because he has a large dose of patience and understanding of the Edo people and the issues of development. It is to Odubu’s credit that this government has enjoyed enormous peace and success and he has remained a harbinger of absolute tranquility, not because he does not know what he is doing but because he is a team player.
“So, for his boss to tell Egor people that the inability of local government councils to pay salaries of workers across the state is Dr. Odubu’s fault is to say the least, most uncharitable and unbelievable by even the audience he was speaking to. History is usually the ultimate judge of events and so as this era of political hustling is ongoing let’s not forget that in a few months there will be events that will prove our assertions of today wrong.
“Odubu knows his job. He does his job whenever he is given any. He has represented the Governor on a number of occasions perfectly well. Let’s not call a dog a bad name in order to hang it. The Lord of justice will defend the ill treated,” Osagie said.
P.M.NEWS reports that the governor has been accused of waging a silent war against his deputy of seven and half years, ever since the latter indicated interest to run in the forthcoming primary election of the APC to choose who flies the flag of the party on the yet to be announced date for the governorship election.