No splinter group in Edo APC, spokesman insists as chieftain faults Governor Godwin Obaseki

The Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) has distanced itself from the Edo APC stakeholders, which called for resignation of its National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.
State Publicity Secretary of APC, Chris Azebamwen, who disclosed this in a statement, said the ‘stakeholders’ could not speak on behalf of the party, adding: “All registered and card carrying members of APC are stakeholders and there are no splinter groups within Edo APC.
The stakeholders group had in a publication in national dailies demanded Oshiomhole’s immediate resignation even as it accused him of “promoting nepotism in Edo politics.”
The group’s position followed widening gulf between Oshiomhole and Governor Godwin Obaseki over his (Obaseki’s) second term bid.
Spokesman of the group, Dr. Peter Ologun, said: “Oshiomhole’s continued stay in office will culminate in the demise of APC in the country.”
Ologun added that whereas President Muhammadu Buhari has never interfered in the affairs of Katsina State and other states, “the reverse was the case in Edo.”
Earlier, a former Publicity Secretary of APC in the state, Godwin Erahahon, blamed Obaseki for the crisis in the state chapter of the party over his second term bid.
He lamented that the division among party leaders may continue, as there was no one powerful politician who could intervene in the matter because the governor has abandoned the leaders and stakeholders.
He described Obaseki’s claim that some party leaders were against him because he has refused to share public funds to politicians as cheap politics and petty campaign.
But reacting to the claims, Azebamwen said Erhahon was only being economical with the truth and trying to give Obaseki a bad name, insisting that the governor would not be distracted by politicians who are unnecessarily heating up the polity ahead of the party’s primaries.
Erhahon who spoke in Benin yesterday, however, said it was too early for the party chieftains to fight over who gets the party ticket ahead of next year’s gubernatorial election.
“Since Obaseki assumed office, the party has been run in a manner that does not encourage the sustenance and promotion of its original foundation. Whether Obaseki will contest or not is too early to generate the kind of heat it is generating now.
“But unfortunately, Obaseki is responsible for the tension because he has established himself as a man with hatred and he is egoistic,” he added.