Oshiomhole can’t convene any rally in Edo, deputy gov boasts

Deputy governor of Edo State, Philip Shuaibu on Thursday said the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole cannot convene any rally in the state.

Shuaibu spoke to journalists in Abuja, saying he had lodged a complaint with the Inspector General of Police over the security implications of holding a rally without the knowledge and approval of the governor, Godwin Obaseki.

According to him, Obaseki and not Oshiomhole, was the leader of the APC in Edo State and the only one empowered to convene a rally.

He further noted that the national chairman was already on suspension from the party in the state and could not act in any capacity on APC affairs there.

“Well, having seen that (Oshiomhole’s letter to the IG), I had to write as the chief security officer of the state to let him (IG) know the situation in Edo State and to also inform him in line with the party’s constitution, that the governor is the leader of the party.

“If the governor that is the leader of the party and the party that he leads want to do a rally in his own state and he has not authorised it and he is not aware, such a rally cannot hold.

Read also: IGP suspends APC rally in Edo

“Also to inform him that the national chairman is suspended from the state; Oshiomhole does not have the locus to preside even on any issue that concerns the APC as we speak.

“So, the man that must give voice to whatever is the APC in terms of governance enshrined in the constitution is the leader of the party in the state; that is the governor.

Reacting, the Convener of Edo Peoples Movement, Henry Idahagbon, a pressure group in the state APC, said the mega rally would hold on Friday as planned.

He said: “It is fake news (that the rally will not hold). The rally will take place tomorrow at the advertised venue. Heavens will not fall. We will hold the rally whether Obaseki likes it or not. We held a rally for him before he became governor and we are holding this one for somebody else to become governor. Heavens will not fall, this rally will hold.”

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