Obaseki: I and Oshiomhole are no longer friends

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said that he has parted ways with his predecessor in office, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, stating that the former governor gave a false impression of his personality to him.

Speaking exclusively with THISDAY newspaper on Wednesday, the Edo governor, who is in his sixth year in office, also said he has not had the opportunity to speak with his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike, since their public spat in March 2022, over the affairs of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State.

This is as he said that the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar remains the best among the men seeking to Nigeria’s presidency in next year’s election that have the capacity to transform the country.

The Star reports that Oshiomhole and Obaseki, who were once political allies and friends before 2016, became implacable foes after Obaseki assumed office on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

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The drift between both men degenerated to the extent that Oshiomhole, as a sitting national chairman of APC, was suspended by his local ward in Edo State,  while the governor also got disqualified from the APC governorship primary for his second term bid.

But speaking on his current relationship with his predecessor, Obaseki said he is not at war with Oshiomhole, but he can’t relate with people that have dual characters.

“He (Oshiomhole) was my friend. We are no longer friends because he is not the sort of person I thought he was,” Obaseki said.

While admitting that both of them were instrumental to each other’s coming into office as governors, he said he realised something different about the former APC national chairman.

He said, “It is not a question of war. It is that a person I thought was my friend; we discussed things and I thought we were in alignment, then suddenly I now realise he was something different. I can’t relate with him.”

The Star