Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has alleged that the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, had no money when he contested the governorship election in 2007.
Mr Obaseki said this on Wednesday while speaking with reporters after submitting his nomination and expression of interest forms for the 2020 governorship election at the party’s secretariat in Abuja.
Mr Oshiomhole, a former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), ran for Edo governorship seat under the defunct Action Congress (AC) in 2007.
He lost to Oserheimen Osunbor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but was declared winner one year later by a court.
Obaseki said he did not understand what people meant when they say he betrayed Oshiomhole.
“In life, everybody gets helped, everybody gets assisted. The person you talked about (Oshiomhole), he had no money when he left labour to contest. We knew what we did to make him governor,” he said.
“I sacrificed eight years of my life pro bono, I collected no kobo to serve him in Edo. Today, we know what we have built because of where we started from. So, when you talk of betrayal, the biggest betrayal can be when people betray a cause, when they betray an idea.
“So, when you talk about betrayal, let us be very clear. I want to put it on record that I am grateful, he assisted me just as I assisted him. I know the sacrifices we made to make him national chairman.”
Obaseki and Oshiomhole have been having a running battle.
The incumbent governor will on June 22 go head to head with Oshiomhole’s favourite, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, for the party’s governorship ticket.
