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Edo women paid N50million to protest against Oshiomhole – APC chieftain
Betsy Obaseki, wife of Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has been accused of inducing some women in the state to demonstrate against Adams Oshiomhole, former Governor of the state and current Senator representing Edo North in the National Assembly over his controversial comments on the first lady, last week.
Matthew Osifo, a retired permanent secretary and Convener of Election Eyewitness Report, who made the allegation, after blaming the first lady for instigating the situation, said she must never be allowed to use state resources and tax payers money to procure such demonstration insisting that the governor must call the wife to order.
While condemning Obaseki for allegedly spending N50m on some women to protest against Comrade Oshiomhole, Osifo said that the out-going governor has just displayed another act of desperation and should apologise to Monday Okpebholo, candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the September 21 governorship election in the state, as well as Oshiomhole and the people of Edo state, for throwning open the floodgate of the campaign of calumny in Edo state.
He said: “The campaign for the governorship election has been going on well until the First Lady changed that with her tongue. Rather than accept the money to make a shameful appearance in public, the women should berate the First Lady for insulting Senator Okpebholo and wrongly claiming that he does not have a wife.
“We know what people have said about Betsy and Godwin in the past, but we chose not to let the rubbish out of the bag. We are saddened and ashamed because it is one thing to marry a woman but another thing to manage her properly, which Obaseki has failed to do. Why will anybody blame Comrade Oshiomhole for coming out heavily on Betsy Obaseki in defence of his candidate?
“Comrade Oshiomhole has lived with the fact that Obaseki and Betsy are in a contract marriage that is childless. But now that the First Lady has brought herself so low, the proper thing to do was what Oshiomhole did, by exposing her because those who live in glass houses do not throw stones.
“Betsy Obaseki threw very heavy stones at Okpebholo and we expected Edo women and Nigerian women to condemn her. The manner the First Lady took the centre stage in the presence of her husband to tongue-lash their political opponent, Senator Monday Okpebholo, speaks volumes about the kind of home Obaseki was running. I cannot pity him enough.
“Some spokespersons of the PDP have even suggested that Oshiomhole should have ignored the First Lady because she was a woman. These sets of people have even demeaned the womenfolk more than anybody else by bending the rules to favour a woman who was not properly trained. Those who know Betsy Obaseki very well claimed that she was less enterprising than the husband. Some even added that she does not have a compassionate heart and that she was worse than Governor Obaseki.”
Hours after Mohammed Hayatu-Deen did, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday, also flatly rejected the outcome of the presidential primaries, of the African Democratic Congress, alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement and electoral malpractice.
Amaechi former Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State, described the announced results as “concocted,” insisting that the process failed to meet the standards of transparency and fairness earlier promised by the party.
He said in a statement: “I unequivocally reject the concocted results being announced,” Amaechi stated.
He said he had previously maintained that he would only accept the outcome of the primaries if the process was free, fair and transparent, stressing that the exercise did not reflect the democratic values the ADC claimed to represent.
“I will not accept results from a process that does not reflect the values that the ADC had pledged to uphold, to rescue Nigerians from the impunity and gross mismanagement that our country is currently facing in the hands of the ruling party,” he said.
Amaechi alleged that a significant number of party members were denied the opportunity to vote during the exercise.
“There’s no way that about eighty percent of members of the party were not allowed to vote, and you expect me to accept such results,” he stated.
The former Rivers State governor questioned the moral basis of the ADC criticising the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over alleged electoral malpractice while allegedly engaging in similar conduct internally.
“A party that criticizes the ruling APC and INEC for vote buying, rigging and writing of results, cannot be engaged in vote buying, writing of results, and other electoral malpractices that leads to the disenfranchisement of voters who are party members. This is not acceptable!” he declared.
Amaechi said the ADC was envisioned as a platform to amplify the voices of ordinary Nigerians and provide credible political alternatives irrespective of ethnicity, religion or social background.
His rejection of the outcome is expected to deepen tensions within the opposition party following the conclusion of its presidential primary election.
“These timeless virtues of devotion, selflessness, and submission to divine will are values our nation desperately needs today,” were the exact words with which Godswill Akpabio, attempted to rouse Nigerians to the ethos of unquestionable faith and service to the country.
Akpabio, Chairman of the National Assembly, who drew example from Prophet Ibrahim, admonished Nigerians to emulate his unwavering faith, obedience, and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of Almighty Allah.
The Senate President, who conveyed his sentiments via a statement by Eseme Eyiboh, also used the specifically hail President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his vice, Kashim Shettima and Muslim faithful in Nigeria and around the world as they celebrate Eid El Kabir.
Stressing that the occasion called for prayer and sober reflection on the theme of sacrifice, he added: “This sacred occasion reminds us of Prophet Ibrahim’s unwavering faith, obedience, and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of Almighty Allah.
“To our dear President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his vice, Senator Kashim Shettima and Muslim brothers and sisters, I felicitate with them on behalf of my family, constituents and the Senate on this blessed Eid. May the lessons of sacrifice, compassion, and generosity that define this season strengthen your faith and bring peace to your homes.
“As you share with the less privileged and extend love to neighbours of all faiths, you embody the true spirit of Nigeria. To all Nigerians, I urge us to use this solemn period to pray fervently for peace, security, and prosperity in our land. Let us pray for our troops in the frontlines, for farmers to return safely to their fields, and for unity to prevail over division in our Nation.
“Eid El Kabir also calls us to deep reflection on the future of our country. Just as Prophet Ibrahim was tested, Nigeria is in a season of testing. The sacrifices we make today in patience, in tolerance and in choosing hope over despair will determine the Nigeria our children inherit.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda of this administration, supported by the National Assembly, is anchored on that same principle: that meaningful progress often requires collective sacrifice.
“May Almighty Allah accept your prayers and sacrifices. May He heal our land, guide our leaders, and bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Barka da Sallah. Eid Mubarak.”
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”
These were the exact words of Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, one of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with which he cast a slur on the ongoing presidential primaries of the party, hinging his position on reports of fraud trailing the exercise.
Hayatu-Deen, a second timer in the search for the nation’s number one job, ran against Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation.
In a statement on his assessment of the exercise which began on Monday, the renowned economist Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), used his X platform to convey his dissatisfaction with the process.
The ADC which said the collation for the exercise would take place in Abuja had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
Bolaji Abdullahi, its spokesman, who described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative, maintained that it remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” he said adding that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
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