The Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, has refuted claims made by former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, regarding advice he allegedly gave concerning the candidacy of the incumbent Governor, Godwin Obaseki, in 2016.
The denial came during a visit by Oshiomhole and other All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwarts to the Oba’s palace on Sunday, following the party’s victory in the recent gubernatorial election.
While addressing the monarch and kneeling in respect, Oshiomhole asserted that Oba Ewuare II had advised him against selecting Obaseki as his successor.
However, Oba Ewuare II firmly countered this assertion, clarifying that he did not provide such advice regarding Obaseki’s candidacy.
He said, “Your Royal Majesty, I would like to remain on my knees, first to apologise to Your Majesty for my poor judgement, when, in spite of your clear advice to the contrary, I stubbornly, and wrongly supported a man, who I thought, being a Benin man, will respect the tradition, the custom, the heritage, the brilliance and creativity and the respect for tradition by any logical man that claims a Benin man, when I presented Obaseki to you, against your advice.”
Responding, the Benin monarch said he never advised against Obaseki’s candidature.
“When you brought Obaseki to me, I did not say anything. You know I said I won’t say so much here. I told them. And I will try to restrain myself. Because anything that will bring any issue with my son Akpakomisa (Okpebholo’s appellation), I want to avoid it.
“But I have to correct it when you said ‘against my advice’. I never said anything against Obaseki when you brought him. You will recall, this one (the Oba pointed to the former chairman of the Edo State Board of Internal Revenue, Elemah, a bosom friend of Oshiomhole) is your witness when you brought him to introduce him to me. You talked about Odubu (Oshiomhole’s deputy governor) voted against my father’s choice.”