Concerned leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo Thursday warned aggrieved members of the party to desist from engaging in mischievous behaviour capable of putting the party at risk in the state.
The party leaders gave the warning during an enlarged meeting of the party leaders from the three senatorial districts convened by Mr Charles Idahosa, a chieftain of the party in Benin.
Speaking during the meeting, Idahosa said the leaders have worked so hard and made necessary sacrifices to build the party culminating into the historic victory of the party in November 2008, when Adams Oshiomhole was restored by the judiciary to date.
“Since then, the governor and the leadership of the party have worked together to ensure the enthronement of purposeful and responsible governance for the good people of Edo state.
“In the past two and half years, Governor Godwin Obaseki has been generally acknowledged by the leadership of the party and the good people of Edo as an exceptional performer.
“His reforms and innovation in governance appear to have taken a toll on some of our party members who have benefited immensely from the past.
“Rather than adjust to the new system of governance, they have chosen to confront the governor and threaten take him out by all means, without considering the implications to the party,’’ ldahosa said.
According to him, the meeting was convened to find solutions to the problems, in order ensure that the party does not waste its huge goodwill acquired in the last house of assembly elections in the state.
The communique issued at the end of the meeting, which was made available to newsmen read that the leaders resolved that there is no fundamental rift between Obaseki, Oshiomhole and leaders of the party.
The leaders, also in the communiqué, appealed to those aggrieved members to look for better and more productive ways of resolving their problems, rather than put the party at risk in the state.
“The insinuation that the governor was responsible for the poor outing of the party in the last Presidential and National Assembly elections is mischievous.
“The result of the House of Assembly elections where the party recorded absolute victory by winning all the seats in the state, is a more accurate measure of the governor’s popularity and acceptability in Edo state,’’ the communique stated.
It urged members of the party to learn from the bitter experiences of APC in other states and help Adams Oshiomhole by ensuring that the home front is peaceful, so that he can pay attention to his very responsibility as national chairman of the party.
