Oshiomhole: How Edo deputy governor disgraced me in my village

Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has alleged that Philip Shuaibu, deputy governor of Edo state, betrayed him.

Oshiomhole spoke when his supporters paid him a visit on Tuesday at his country home in Iyamoh, Edo state.

The APC chairman said he found it hard to believe that Shuaibu would turn against him despite helping him.

He blamed Shuaibu and some other persons for the crisis rocking the state faction of the APC and urged his supporters not to be used for “because of money”.

“There is nothing I have done in life that I didn’t have to fight but as you can see by the special grace of God there is no fight that I was forced into that I have not prevailed because I do not go out of my way to look for trouble. I actually do my best to make peace but if it fails, God will give the enablement to stand and defend the truth,” Oshiomhole said.

“The only thing I will say today to anyone who is here, who is an agent of my son; when I talk of my son, I’m talking of Philip Shiabu, who now thinks that his own political future requires that he attacks me and import thugs to disgrace me in my village.

“Supposing I was dead after 2016 and somebody tells me that my son Philip will organise people to attack my house or to attack my village, to disrupt the convocation, maybe my body will be turning in heaven and I will not believe but the fact that I’m alive to see someone who did not win his own (polling) booth because his own people in his own village in his own community of Jattu did not want him because they apparently know him better than I do. But I stood by him, I stood for him and he became the deputy governor.

“If all that transpired now is to use that power to humiliate me but God didn’t allow it. As you can see, who can fight the battle? It is only God so I leave the burden of guilt to them and I will not repay evil with evil.

“I will stand on the path of peace, I will stand on the path of unity. I will stand on the path of justice because I know that God in heaven will never allow the evildoer to prevail.”

Earlier, Oshiomhole had blamed Shaibu for the attack on Godwin Obaseki, the governor, and Rilwan Akiolu, oba of Lagos, at his residence in Edo.

The incident happened during the maiden convocation ceremony of Edo University.