He noted that as an old man has reached his ‘departure hall’, he should be atoning for his very many sins, which has combined to the short-changing of the socio- economic development of the state.
Oshiomhole made this remark on Wednesday in Lagos at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport shortly before his departure to an undisclosed destination.
The governor was reacting to statement credited to Chief Anenih, that the Edo State governor has perfected plans to stagger the local council elections , such that he could utilize the machinery of state to rig the elections.
He explained that rather than pray to God for the remission of his sins, the PDP chieftain is associating himself with the propagation of half truths, which will further divide the state.
Oshiomhole said : " Chief Anenih is like an old man that children have abandoned and he is busy doing nothing. In fact when I saw Anenih , I felt sorry for him because at his age, he should be associated with something positive”.
He went on,:” There is another thing we should talk about, that is Chief Anenih now, I think I saw it on Channels saying that we want to stagger elections, from one local government to the other we don’t want to hold election on the same day because we feel that if we do it the same day they will not win any local government. I have a lot of sympathy for him.”
The governor added that,”First, there is no sense in it, governors don’t conduct elections, if they do it I won’t do it. It is INEC or state electoral commission that will conduct elections and they make the rules not the governor and the rules will not allow them to do the kind of thing he was suggesting. He still thinks it is pre-Jonathan era, where rigging is the game of the day, he doesn’t understand what one man one vote represents. When I watched him say that I am like, if at old age in our 80’s we still lie effortlessly at what age shall we begin to pray to God to forgive us for lying? I thought that elders should resist the temptation to lie even if you are pathologically a liar, as you age and you are approaching your departure hall you should begin to atone for your sins. So I was shocked that he could associate himself with such blatant untruth."
On the defection of the former director of his campaign organisation, Chief Sylvanus Eruaga to the PDP with over one thousand supporters, Oshiomhole described the former aide as a discredited person who was fired for involving himself in criminal activities, even as he described the defection as good riddance to bad rubbish.
He said : "No, no, no, no, I don’t want to talk about..., in my village we don’t talk about my elders, we don’t abuse younger ones in public because God has already put you up there. You don’t look down at people.
“This is a guy who was my security officer and then I appointed him chairman of a committee on the protection of government property, now rather than protect government property I was getting security reports that he was involved in bunkering, illegal bunkering, breaking pipelines and siphoning fuel from government, NNPC pipelines and both the police and SSS had accused him several times and I have those security reports. As governor I couldn’t put my personal friendship or loyalty of my staff over and above public interest so i decided to fire him and dissolve the committee.”
“Everybody working around me knows and I tell them, you are associated with me does not give you immunity, even I that have a level of immunity; I don’t use it in a way that will undermine public safety and public interest.I think that is it and I am quite happy that he has found a place."
On the preparations for the next general elections, Oshiomhole said : "We have done some test running, we have done two elections since I came in , all the elections that have been held with an INEC that was under his manipulations, we won. The last one he got the INEC REC to be transferred and a new one brought, he got them to bring a new police chief and dismiss Edo police.
“While they changed everything that they could change but they could not change Edo people, I went into the election, I won, and they lost twice.
“If you go to Edo our work is doing the campaign for us. It is no longer I am going to; it is see what I am doing and look at what they failed to do. I am like ten year they were here what did they do You show me, you as a journalist, market woman, politician, engineers, you show me, just say ten years this is what PDP did in Edo and I will say in 18 months, I am doing airport road, Akpapkava road, in a few months I put street lights on Akpapkava, Sakpoba, Oba market, we have transformed the Kings Square, it is no longer Ring Road, it is now Kings Square.
In his own Local government in Uromi, I am working on two roads under construction; they have reached 60 per cent completion."
The Edo Governor also spoke on the on going construction of roads in the state, affirming that before the end of the year the road linking the Benin - Lagos road at the Ugbowo- Oluku axis will soon be completed.
" It is not 90 per cent at all. I don’t know what percentage but there has been a lot of progress. I am assured that it will be ready before Christmas. If you are coming home for Christmas you will drive on a brand new road every other thing being equal.
“On Ugbowo road we are doing additional two lanes, its a federal government road but you know the federal government always turns its eyes where it wants to turn to and Edo has not being too lucky, we haven’t got much allocation’.
“So the state government t is doing additional two lanes to make it six lanes to decongest the traffic and we have permission from the Oba to dig into the traditional ground, because that was a little bit challenge but we now have the Oba’s blessing to do it because he is very excited over the progress we are making and we are building a big drainage all the way from Oluku to Ugbowo. So that way once that is completed we the flood on that road will be abated."
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