A former Minister of Works, Mike Onolomemen has accused the governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki of pushing him out of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
This is coming amidst claims from deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, that he was betrayed by Obaseki.
Shaibu, who is seeking to become the next governor of Edo State on the platform of the PDP, said Obaseki betrayed him by backing another aspirant in the upcoming September 21 governorship election.
Onolomemen who is also a governorship aspirant told newsmen in Abuja that the alleged manipulation of last year’s senatorial primaries of the PDP by Obaseki forced him to defect to the All Progressives Congress.
He said, “It is true that I have been a member of the PDP. Up till 2023, I was a member of the party, but something happened that I just couldn’t relate with
“Right from the beginning of 2023, I set out to run for a senatorial seat, that is the Edo Central Senatorial District. In that primary election, I won in a very stylish way. I got 90 per cent of the votes and the remaining 10 per cent was shared by the remaining five aspirants.
“But at a time, I thought it was over, the Governor of the State, Godwin Obaseki had come in and was supporting somebody who did not even partake in the primaries to take over the seat. Initially, we thought it was a joke. We went to the high court and from there to the Court of Appeal and from there to the Supreme Court. Funny enough, the Supreme Court gave them judgment. For me, that was the breaking point. From that point, I did not accept to go further because it was one too many. That was what happened.”
He said he was confident of winning the APC governorship primary, saying his newness in the party would not be a disadvantage.
“Those in APC today were once in the PDP with us in Edo State. Many of them are people we have done things together politically. When we are together, we don’t discriminate against one another. Because of that, it is the same characters you are dealing with. So, you don’t feel as if you are a newcomer. We are comers as it were,” he added.
