President Bola Tinubu on Friday met with the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the September Edo State election, Monday Okpebholo and his running mate, Dennis Idahosa at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
They were led to the seat of power by former governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole and the minister of Niger Delta Development, Abubakar Momoh.
The meeting came barely 24 hours after a federal high court in Abuja faulted the primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which produced Asue Ighodalo as its flag bearer.
When approached by reporters after the meeting, Okpebholo described the meeting as private, declining to speak more on the session.
However, Oshiomhole who spoke later, expressed confidence that the APC will win the September exercise as it hoped to capitalize on the disarray in the PDP.
He said the APC has no hand in the Edo PDP travails as it was purely an internal disagreement.
Oshiomhole said: “I think you should dismiss that because this is PDP versus PDP and you know that by the law, another party cannot go into intra-party conflicts in court. So if it is convenient for them to explain that you can dismiss it without asking me.
“The fact that there had been division in Edo before their primaries and after their primaries is an open secret, and the issues in dispute are also very open. The PDP legacy group complained that the man they gave their master bedroom has completely chased them out of the building and now they’re under the rain and as we speak they are still trying to settle.
“Those who couldn’t find accommodation, we picked them one by one and don’t forget that those in that Osadebe Avenue were my own creation in the sense that I supported Obeseki to become governor and so I have people who still have affection for me.”
“So, this is purely PDP intra-party, and I think the lesson is very clear, namely that parties must be encouraged to obey the laws that regulate the conduct of primaries, and that rules are meant to be obeyed if you formulate your constitution.
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“It is the base of the contract between party members. Now, the Electoral Act is meant to ensure that everybody played the game within the you know, within the rules, so we have nothing to do it,” he added.
On the reason for the visit, the former governor explained: “We went with the candidate and the running mate to give the president… he is the leader of the party to give him an update on the campaigns going on what we are doing and the fact that we are harvesting more are more people every day decamping.”
Also speaking, Minister of Niger Delta Development, Momoh, affirmed that the APC has the advantage in the coming election
“So, as far as we are concerned, whether court judgment or no court judgment, we are very hopeful and optimistic that 21s November this year, Obaseki will be preparing to leave the Government House,”
Momoh said.
