Oba of Benin begs Buhari to intervene in Obaseki, Oshiomhole feud

Mathew Dadiya, Abuja

The Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’ Edo, Ewuare II, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to quickly intervene in the feud between the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

The Oba made the appeal on Wednesday when he led members of the Edo State Council of Traditional Rulers and Chiefs to a courtesy visit to President Buhari at the Presidential villa, Abuja.

He also demanded for two ministerial slots from the president reason being that Edo State is the only APC state in the South – South.

The Oba, in a written address at the meeting which was held under closed door, said: “Mr. President, we as traditional rulers in Edo State, are concerned about the crisis between Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the All Progressives Congress National Chairman and his Excellency, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, and Edo State House of Assembly.

“If this crisis is not resolved now with immediate effect it may jeopardise the progress of the state.

“On behalf of the good people of Edo State, we kindly appeal to Mr. President to use your good offices to intervene and stop this crisis.

“Personally even though I do not like to interfere in inter-party or intra party matters, and always maintain that the Benin Crown is non-partisan, it is however difficult to turn a blind eye because if this crisis is not brought under control, it is likely to jeopardize the welfare of the masses.

“This is where I in my capacity as Chairman of Edo State Council of Traditional Rulers and Chiefs supported by members of the Council, will endeavour to broker peace between the warring parties.

“I have been talking to both parties on my own and I am about to invite them to the palace for reconciliation. When a date is set for this meeting, I will invite members of the council to join me in this effort.

We believe by the grace of God, if we succeed in achieving this, the benefit should trickle down to resolving the impasse in the Edo State House of Assembly. “

On the demand for two ministerial slots, he said: “We pray to Almighty God to help you put in place a formidable team of men and women of proven integrity that will join you to take this nation to the next level.

“Considering that Edo State is the only APC State in the South – South, May we crave Mr. President’s indulgence to have two ministerial slots in the yet to be constituted Federal Executive Council.”

The Oba reminded the President of some demands by the people when he visited the state especially, the issue of poor and ineffective performance of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, in the provision of power to electricity consumers in the state.

“Suffice to state that several months down the line the situation has worsened. May I on behalf of the people of Edo state, use this platform to further appeal to Mr. President to intervene in this pathetic situation,” he said.

He said that the Edo State Traditional Rulers were doing their best to support the Federal Government in the war against human trafficking.

He said: “It is globally accepted that the action which I singlehandedly took against those involved in human trafficking have helped to reduce this illicit trade drastically.

To be sure, Mr. President I was compelled to place in our traditional manner a curse on those native doctors who were involved in asking these victims to take oath of ‘enslavement’ before they could travel out illegally.”

He said that the natural rulers from Edo State were sad to observe that there was little or no federal presence in the state.

“For example, Nigeria Institute for Oil Palm Research, NIFOR, which was established so many years ago is now a sorry shadow of its past.

The University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) management does not have enough equipment and sufficient fund to properly run the institution,” he said.

The monarch added that the Benin-Owen River Basin Authority does not impact the life of the people, saying, “In fact, it is almost non-existent.”