Edo crisis: Why Obaseki has not seen Tinubu — Investigation

Despite moves to see the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, over the decision of the National Working Committee of the party to adopt Direct Primaries for the upcoming process to elect a candidate for the Edo State governorship election, the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has not done so, The Eagle Online can confirm.

According to inside sources, Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos State, has been around in the country and is not averse to seeing the embattled Governor of Edo State, who has been locked in a supremacy battle with his predecessor and National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, The Eagle Online was told.

According to the sources, Obaseki has not even reached out directly to Tinubu since he vowed to do so after the decision of the NWC last week adopting direct primaries for choosing the party’s candidate for the September 2020 election.

The fear in Obaseki’s camp is that the Governor will be overwhelmed at the primaries, where the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the last governorship election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, had been drafted into the APC and given a waiver to stand for the poll.

Oshiomhole is backing Ize-Iyamu’s candidacy.

Insiders in Tinubu’s Ikoyi, Lagos State home told NEWS DIRECT that Obaseki had not called Tinubu because of the manner in which he acted to the National Leader of the APC when his relationship with Oshiomhole was gradually breaking down.

He was said to have spurned Tinubu and other leaders of the party then when there were moves to reconcile them.

His argument had been that he knew where Tinubu belonged in the crisis and that he was not going to allow anyone prevail on him to stop the battle he had begun.

The source said: “He didn’t behave well at the time when there were efforts to reconcile them.

“His belief was that he had the capacity to fight till the end.”

One of the sources, however, told NEWS DIRECT that rather than reach out directly to Tinubu, Obaseki’s aides have been calling top aides of the former Lagos State Governor to have feelers of the position of the APC National Leader.

One of the sources said: “There is no doubt that Asiwaju will see him (Obaseki), if he comes around.

“In fact, based on media reports, Asiwaju has been expecting him.

“He is the one who has failed to contact him directly.

“You don’t expect anyone to fix such a meeting when he has Asiwaju’s number.

“But instead of doing that, he has been testing the waters.

“Let me tell you the truth: Asiwaju will see him whenever he decides to come around.

“But there is only one thing that won’t change: Asiwaju will not go against the decision of the NWC to adopt direct primaries for the election in Edo.”