PDP Trying To Destabilize Edo State Over 2015 Election, says Oshiomhole

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has vowed not to be cowed by the allegation that he is destabilizing his state to contest next year’s election as a vice-president.

Speaking to State House correspondents after the Council of State meeting on Tuesday in Abuja, Oshiomhole explained that he was qualified to vie for the position of vice-president if he so desires, adding that he would not be deterred by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because of the matter.

He insisted that he does not need to destabilize the state over his purported vice-presidential ambition.

He said: “And as you read one Metuhsella or Olisa Metuh or by whatever name he is called, he was reported as saying that I am destabilising Edo State because I want to contest for vice-president. Now, that is standing logic upside down.

“If I want to contest for vice-president, do I need to distablise the government that I currently head?

“So, they have let the cat out of the bag, meaning that they are afraid of their own rumoured ambition that I want to contest the vice-presidency. So, the point I want to make is that, if I decide even to contest for the Presidency, the PDP cannot intimidate me. I have a right to do so, if it is my conviction.

“It is unfortunate that some people want to put their individual interest above national interest, but I cannot be intimidated. I’m firmly on the ground and there is nothing to worry about”.

The governor blamed the PDP and the police for the crisis rocking the Edo State House of Assembly.

He linked the crisis with the High Court order restraining four PDP lawmakers from taking part in activities of the House of Assembly.

Oshiomhole said: “Now, the other thing is that you are seeing the police excessive use of power, compromising the commercial and economic life of Edo State. This is making the whole place to look like the police have become an invasion force. It is just to protect these four members, aid and abet them from obeying court order.

“So, if four people refuse to obey a court order that does not mean the state is on fire. You just have few people who are celebrating lawlessness and the police force is helping them to celebrate lawlessness”.

He added: “Now, what is my position? It’s simple! Without the state instrument, on the streets of this city of Abuja, we confronted the powers that be. We confronted the people who occupied this Villa from 1999 to 2007. I did, along with my colleagues, across the 36 states. We did. So, I am not a coward who can be intimidated.

“One thing is that an election is coming in 2015 and we have defeated the PDP consistently since 2009, when I assume office. Every bye-election, they lost. In the last National Assembly election, we defeated them in the whole of Edo South, which is about 51 per cent of the population. We defeated them in Edo North, which is about 33 per cent of the population; we defeated them in Edo Central, which accounts for about 17 per cent of the population.

“In my own election, despite all they boasted that they were going to do, I defeated them in all the 18 local government areas, including the local government of the PDP godfather. So, what they are trying to do now is that having lost the election, having been rejected by the Edo people and knowing that another election is coming, they want to destabilize the state, intimidate my person”.

Tracing the genesis of the four lawmakers’ travail, the governor said: “You have some people who believe that because they are members of the PDP, they are above the law and they want to celebrate the culture of impunity. But I am a product of struggle all my life. I’m used to people who think that they are much more than what they are.

“My own life history tells me that only the man on the side of truth is on the side of God and only that could survive. The issue in Edo is straight forward. Four members of the PDP, on their own, went to court, asking the Federal High Court to ask the Speaker not to declare their seats vacant…”