- Oshiomhole defends Okpebholo’s warning to Peter Obi over unscheduled visit
- Says notifying state authorities is ‘a matter of decency and self-respect’
- Adds Edo government owns the school Obi planned to visit
Former Edo State Governor and current Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has backed Governor Monday Okpebholo’s position that Mr Peter Obi, former Labour Party presidential candidate, must officially notify the state before embarking on any visit to government-owned facilities.
Oshiomhole stated this on Prime Time, a programme on Arise Television, while addressing the uproar caused by Governor Okpebholo’s public warning to Obi last week. The governor had accused Obi’s recent unscheduled visit to Edo of contributing to a security breach that allegedly led to the death of three people.
While many critics condemned the governor’s remarks as politically motivated, Oshiomhole argued that Obi ought to have shown institutional courtesy.
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“Let’s face it; the property of the Edo State Government is entrusted in the hands of the governor. If anyone — including myself — went to Anambra when Obi was governor and wanted to visit a government facility, it would be a matter of decency and self-respect to inform the authorities,” Oshiomhole said.
He added that the facility Obi planned to visit—a school—is fully maintained by the state and thus subject to state oversight. Oshiomhole noted that although he respects Obi as a former colleague and likes him on a personal level, they diverge politically and on core governance issues.
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“Peter Obi was my colleague. I liked him then, and I still do, but politically, we don’t agree. I do not subscribe to his views on certain matters,” he added.
Governor Okpebholo’s initial claim had drawn the ire of civil society groups and opposition figures, with some alleging that the governor was attempting to intimidate political rivals under the guise of security.
Despite the backlash, Oshiomhole maintained that political stature should not exempt public figures from the protocols of governance, especially when accessing state-run institutions.
