The Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu has accused the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole of sponsoring protests in Abuja against Governor Godwin Obaseki over certificate forgery.
He said that Oshiomhole had elevated sycophancy to an art and chosen to be a sectional leader instigating crisis in a party he was elected to model.
Shaibu stated this in a statement signed by his special assistant on media, Mr Benjamin Atu, in Benin on Tuesday.
“The truth is that Obaseki has the goodwill of the President. He has exceeded expectations in terms of performance in office.
“They have no other way to tarnish his image; they, therefore, decided to sponsor protest to create false impression. The protest is the handiwork of the APC National Chairman. The faces may be different but the sponsor is the same.
“It was alleged that the governor had no certificate and now that the certificate of the governor has been made public, they have shifted their accusation from no certificate to the next level of questioning the number of credits awarded in the certificate.
“The question that should be asked is if Obaseki has certificate or not. Did the Nigerian Constitution mention the number of sittings or the number of subjects one must pass in the school certificate exams before he can qualify to contest as governor?
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“Leading a state is different from leading a mob and the earlier Oshiomhole assumes his rightful position as national leader and not as a sectional chairman, the better for him.
“What is the scale of evaluation upon which the National Chairman of the APC is standing to question the certificate of Edo State governor?
“In the first instance, Obaseki wouldn’t have emerged as governor of Edo State in 2016, if he had no certificate. Oshiomhole wouldn’t have also insisted that Obaseki must be the governor if he knew he had no requisite certificate.
“In Nigeria, the requirement to contest for the position of governor is a WAEC certificate. The constitution didn’t specify the number of subjects or the grades in such subjects for the purpose of evaluation,” the statement read.
It went further to state, “In order to put the record straight, it has been clearly stated that the governor proceeded to the Institute of Continuing Education, ICE, Benin City, before furthering his education. The law didn’t require the governor to tender all his certificates but only his WAEC certificate.
“The problem is that Oshiomhole has elevated sycophancy to an art. The task of governing requires that he maintain a cool mien to enable him carry out the affairs of the party.
“But rather than being a National Chairman, he has chosen to be a sectional leader, instigating crisis in a party he was elected to model.”
Shuaibu added that Obaseki remained qualified to contest as governor “because nobody went to write an examination for him like other aspirants who used mercenaries in acquiring their educational certificates.”
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