Idahagbon to Oshiomhole: You cannot foist Dennis Idahosa on us as APC’s guber candidate

■Says Oshiomhole sees Edo South leadership as being incapable of deciding who to become governor and I would say “no” to that”
■Insists Comrade is making another mistake after two previous ones in 2016 and 2020
■Declares that some of us, his loyalists, his political men, are telling him, this time round, that he should calm down

A former Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General of Edo State, Barrister Henry Idahagbon, has challenged a former governor of the state, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, over his purported decision to teleguide the party leaders in the direction of foisting a predetermined aspirant, Hon Dennis Idahosa, as the party’s governorship candidate in Saturday’s governorship primary election.

Idahagbon, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who appeared on Channels TV’s “Politics Today” on Monday, closely on the heels of Oshiomhole’s appearance on the same programme on Sunday, was unsparing in his criticism of the former governor’s proclivity towards Dennis Idahosa who is a member of the House of Representatives.

Without mincing words, while responding to a question on what his biggest fear was about the Saturday’s governorship primary election, Idahagbon said: “My biggest fear is that the leadership of the party under Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, is on the threshold of making a very bad decision that may lead us continuing in our opposition status in the state.”

He offered rationalizations to validate the basis of his fear: “I am going to air my opinion with all due respect to our leader. He is our leader in Edo State who generally did very well. He is generally regarded as an apostle of development in the state.

“So let us go to the basics. At the beginning of this dispensation, in the build-up to this primary election, there was an agreement, which our leader consented to, to wit: that the governorship of the state in 2024 would not be zoned to any senatorial district and, therefore, aspirants were welcome from the three senatorial districts and that was what led to the 29 aspirants that we had.

“All of them were encouraged to throw their hat in the ring because it was agreed that there would be no zoning; and Comrade Oshiomhole was part of the leadership of the party that agreed that there would be no zoning. In fact, the State Publicity Secretary, at a point, I think it was in December last year, had to issue a written statement. That is one.

“Then two, virtually all the aspirants, especially the ones from his senatorial district, which he admitted here yesterday (Sunday) that he unilaterally removed from the list of those that were recommended by the Professor Julius Ihonvbere Committee, they all went to him at the beginning to inform him of their intention to seek the number one seat in the state.

“At that time, he did not tell them that, look, my senatorial district would not be involved in this contest; (and therefore), do not participate. He encouraged them; he blessed some of them and then they went into the race, only for him, at the very last minute, to now admit here yesterday (Sunday) that he was the one, after the Ihonvbere Committee submitted its report and became functus officio, who unilaterally, because he said he trusted his senatorial district to have confidence in him that he would make the best judgement for them.

“But, I am afraid because in 2016, he (Oshiomhole) made the wrong judgement for us, which was Godwin Obaseki. He brought Obaseki from nowhere against the popular will of the people that supported his then deputy governor, who is on record to be one of the most loyal deputy governors ever in the history of Nigeria. The man has a huge and robust political pedigree. He was a former member of the House of Representatives for eight years; he was a former council chairman in Edo State… I am talking of Dr Pius Odubu.

“His (Dr Pius Odubu’s) father was a traditional person of high repute and highly venerated in his local area and the man contested and won election as a legislator in his area ten consecutive times-that was Odubu’s father; so, he came with a robust political pedigree and so many people supported him, but he brought Obaseki from nowhere and this is where we are today now. That was 2016.”

Responding to a question as to whether Oshiomhole might have possibly learnt from his past mistake, Idahagbon countered: “No, he has learnt nothing. His current dispositions clearly show that he has learnt nothing and my fear is that he may not even be capable of learning from all this because in 2020, he made the same mistake. That was why I said we can no longer rely on his judgement.

“His mistake in 2020 was that in 2016 while trying to market Obaseki, he attributed to Obaseki attributes that Obaseki did not possess and in the process, he demonized Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and then in 2020, he now came back with Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. Some of us went to him to tell him that this guy, as good as he is, had been de-marketed, He had been demonized. Oshionhole said there was no problem, that we spoke to the people with our mouth and we would speak to them again.

“But our people did not listen and one of the reasons why Pastor Ize-Iyamu lost that election in 2020 was not because he was not popular with our people; it was because they said: Oshiomhole, you told us in 2016 that this man was a demon; he was a devil; in 2020, you cannot now tell us he is an angel. So, what gives? What has happened? He has made this mistake twice and that is why some of us, his loyalists, his political men are telling him this time round that he should calm down and listen to his people.

“He said on your programme yesterday (Sunday) that he did not have any candidate, but we know as a matter of fact that he already has a candidate… I am saying and I have evidence that he is supporting Hon. Dennis Idahosa because he has called several of our leaders to tell them that they should go on Saturday to go and vote for him, and some of us believe that he is making another grave mistake in Dennis Idahosa.”

Idahagbon, in response to another question, said: “Dennis Idahosa is relatively new in the system. He is just 43 years old. He (Oshiomhole) has not done enough investigation about his (Idahosa’s) antecedents and I am not going to say more than that. He has not done so. He did not do so in 2016 when he brought Godwin Obaseki.

“In fact, Obaseki said after he became governor that he studied Comrade (Oshiomhole) for eight solid years and Comrade did not bother to study him. He said so. So, we are not going to sit back and watch him repeat the mistake he made in 2016, 2020 and 2024; and that is why we are saying that on Saturday, he should allow a level play field.”

Idahagbon faulted Oshiomhole on the reason, he gave for unilaterally removing his Edo North senatorial district from the list, that there was a minister from the zone.

Read him: “In 2016, on his exit, there were people from Edo north who aspired to be governor, but Oshiomhole told them that it would be amoral for him to hand over to an Edo north person. In 2024, the person that is outgoing is an Edo South person; now he (Oshiomhole) wants to give the ticket to an Edo South person-Dennis Idahosa. What has changed? That is one.

“Two, in 2016, who was the minister representing Edo State? It was Dr Osagie Ehanire from Oredo Local Government Council and Obaseki is also from Oredo Local Government. So, the argument is (tenuous):”

Asked if he was supporting someone among the 12 qualified aspirants who are participating in the Saturday primary election, Idahagbon said he was supporting the immediate past Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba because of his pedigree.

According to him: “This is a man who schooled in Edo State-primary, secondary and university and thereafter, he joined Chevron and he rose to become a Manager of Chevron in Nigeria and was, thereafter, seconded to be manager of logistics in Chervon in Kazakhstan, the first African to do so, with 1502 staff members, all whites, under his immediate control and leadership; and thereafter, he was made Commissioner for Environment in Edo State.

“The Urban Renewal project of Governor Adams Oshiomhole was driven and headed by Clem Agba. I was a member of the cabinet. And, as Minister, no other minister in the history of Edo State…has been to attract the number of contracts he attracted to the state. Clem Agba attracted close to 100 verifiable projects, most of them completed and some of them ongoing, as minister of state for budget and national planning in just three and a half years.

“So, we need a man of such competence. Of course, there are one or two others among the twelves aspirants that can also do this job. Dennis Idahosa should just be the last among them.”

Idahagbon said even if it was considered propitious to cede the governorship ticket to Edo South where he comes from, Oshiomhole should have allowed the leaders and people of the zone to choose who they want.

“If you zone it to us, you should allow us to make our choice. By deciding for us, it means Comrade Oshiomhole sees our leadership in Edo South as being incapable of deciding who to become the governor of Edoo State and I would say “no” to that.”