A former member and Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, Hon. Samson Osagie had taken a swipe at Sen. Dino Melaye for attempting to mock Gov ADAMS Oshiomhole’s choice of wife as comparable to patronizing foreign goods.
The Senator had taken a swipe on the state governor while contributing to a debate concerning made in Nigeria goods.
Dino said ” It is a very bad development today that most Nigerian senior citizens detest made-in-nigeria women and opt for women abroad. We should condemn this. Take Oshiomhole for example,he spited Edo beautiful ladies and married a woman from abroad. This is wrong. We must go for our women. It is the height of irresponsibility if we do otherwise.”
Samson Osagie
Hon. Samson OSAGIE who describe Sen. Melaye as a supposed friend of members of the National Assembly from Edo State and the Comrade Governor describe as joke taken too far in his attempt to contribute to a motion that calls for very serious and patriotic attention.
He called on the Senator to publicly apologize to the Comrade Governor and Edo people for such verbal and unnecessary assault on the matrimony of the first family of Edo State.
Hon. OSAGIE regretted that were he in the Senate he would have raised a point of order on SEN. Melaye for making provocative and abusive statements that were irrelevant to the subject matter under debate in defiance of the rules of the Senate.
According to him’ I expect Dino my friend to know that that comparison was totally out of tune with the subject matter of the motion that was before the Senate and offensive to the rules of debate’
The privileges enjoyed by members of the legislature does not enjoin them to make scurrilous remarks about the private life of citizens. I was shocked and embarrassed and am sure Edo people were also embarrassed. Dino should thread cautiously.
In this interview with NAIJA CENTER NEWS, Hon. Samson Osagie, a former member of House Of Rep and the APC Senatorial Candidate in Edo South in the 2015 National Assembly Elections talked on APC crisis, the future of the party and showed confidence in the candidacy of the Deputy Governor, Pius Odubu
Who do you think is most suitable to represent the APC in the coming governorship election?
Samson Osagie
Well it is not the way our forefathers look at the issues of parties, you and me will rate it. There are so many things I will consider. I will consider who wins the party tickets and who will monster a public acceptance in the general election.
At this point in the APC, it is not clear who get the ticket but there are a lot of people jostling for it. It could just be anybody’s game. The only fear those of us in the party are having is that someone who would be able to contend with the PDP should be the one that can take the ticket so that the Edo people would accept him. Everybody has his own tendency, no doubt, it is not clear and the way the whole thing is going, it is causing a lot of heat and some internal inconveniences. I can’t say this is the man that is supposed to rule, but as a matter of general principle, I believe that the more general acceptable a candidate the better for the party and such candidate must not have the trace of being strange or being imposed, those are the things that can work against the party.
Should a candidate be chosen based on their acceptance or capabilities to perform as a governor?
There are no objective standard to measure who can perform because the people that are going to choose them are people across the state. In the APC, over 3000 people would come and vote. When we voted Lucky Igbinedion in 1999, it was with high hopes isn’t it? I was part of that government. Everybody agreed that we didn’t quite get the best even though Lucky Igbinedion as an individual is a very good man while that administration did not achieve much.
The people coming to the stadium are influenced by a number of factors:
The amount of money they are going to get in the exercise
Some of them the direction to which their local leaders have pushed them
Out of fear of the unknown
Therefore candidates are chosen on the basis of the decision of each delegate however right or wrong.
What do you have to say about the crisis rocking APC about candidate imposition?
It is quite worrisome honestly speaking and i hope we get it right. It is the biggest problem before us now and i am just praying on a daily basis that we are able to get it right sooner than later. Even though it is not being seen as imposition, the tactics is quite disturbing.
When you create a level playing field, you allow everybody to go do his job unhindered, but when you allow some to campaign and you stop others from carrying out their legitimate business and others, it become very suspect. The philosophy of level playing field becomes very suspect. I believe that those who are over heating the system would soon realize that it cannot augur well for the party.
How about Genetleman Amegor? There is speculation that his meeting was disrupted by some paid hoodlums
Yes, that was the information that came yesterday and it was confirmed to be true.
Is the governor responsible for that?
I can’t tell because i am not in the position to say who did what but i understand that some thugs came in there and i don’t know who sent them. I wasn’t privy to the arrangement and i cannot say the governor was responsible, or any particular person was responsible but i know for a fact that the incident happened.
With the situation in the party now, do you still believe that the party can triumph in the coming election?
This internal heat would subside after the primaries because we would not allow PDP to take this state; we have to work harmoniously together. It is always like this before party primaries. We have to act and make sure we sustain it. We have so many reasons to sustain APC. The governor has done well in terms of landmark achievements compared to other administrations before this. Secondly, the centre (federal level) is controlled by APC so i don’t think it will go to the opposition now.
I do not think giving their sixteen years record at the federal, anybody should be attractive to the PDP government though the APC needs to work out to earn the position.
With the situation, if some aggrieved members decided to pull out and move to the opposition, what is the position of the APC then?
I don’t think that is in the offering now; don’t forget there is internal heat in the PDP. WE are also expecting people from the PDP to join APC. Our own crisis may be louder but does not remove the part that there is no crisis in the PDP over nomination.
What is your take on the man Pius Odubu?
Odubu was my predecessor in the office as a member of the Reps. He has enormous political experience, he knows Edo State so well because he has been on ground for the past 20-25 years having practice law here when he returned from the USA. He contested election into councils; he contested to House of Reps and then the deputy governor. He is a very quiet gentleman and intelligent man who have been able to serve under Oshiomhole without any rancour. He is very unassuming. I have a very high regards for him because he has a political antecedent coming several years. The capability in which he has served has not really afforded him that opportunity to assume high leadership. As a member of the House of Reps at the beginning of this republic, he was a member of several political committees. Some of the committees were, particularly the appropriation were the one that appropriated for the Benin bypass. He is not a loud and media person, people do not seem to understand him.
To have been able to work under Oshiomhole is a big achievement; it is not easy because Oshiomhole is the man that puts everyone on their toes. I have very high impression about him, many people know his antecedents, and many people know where he comes from. I know many aspirants in the APC, he is the only one residing here in Edo full time with contracts across the country. This is a man who schooled abroad for 8-9 years.
If he understands our governors so well, to be able to work with him years without crisis, is the hallmark of leadership prosperity he has displayed so far.
I have high regards for him. That does not mean others are not also good. in fact all the candidates contesting in APC are very qualified. If you ask me who did you know among them, Odubu is the man i know, and the man most people actually know.
What would you say he has done for the community as a man who wants to lead?
Sometimes we tend to separate a man from the government in which he served. In an attempt to do that, we lose the focus of the analysis. Odubu has been the deputy governor to Oshiomhole, I believe the success of the administration is his achievement. The area he comes from has benefited immensely, not because the governor is governor but because the deputy comes from there and he has verged for them.
I also know that as the member of House of reps at the beginning of democracy when things were just kicking off, when the national budget were not as fat as this, he also did attract projects to his constituencies. Those were the days when a rep member can even manage to attract a project less than N50m. The period we went to the House of reps was far better than when they went because they were the pioneers. If you compare their era with our era then you make a mistake.
I became a leader in the house of rep, so i have enormous influence i got through my party. At the time he was in the house of rep, he was not in Anenih camp in the PDP. He couldn’t have been able to have enormous influence because Anenih and the rest of them were still controlling the PDP. So Odubu has achieved a lot in terms of what this government has done for this state. If you want to separate him from the Oshiomhole government, do you expect him to be using his money to be building roads and all over the place? It is one government, he served in a government that is successful and he is also successful. That put him in a more advantageous position to be able to continue and improve on what this government has done.
What happened if Adams Oshiomhole successfully imposes his preferred candidate on other aspirants, what will be the future of APC in Edo state?
That will be speculative. As an individual with knowledge, there will be primaries for the party and any candidate that emerged will have the support of other party members irrespective of the divide now. What we pray against is that the primary should not be conducted in a manner that makes it unacceptable.
What if it was?
That will create some difficulties for the party to manage, that is the much i can say. From what had happened, i did primary in 2014, i was a senatorial aspirant and i emerged senatorial candidate in the primary the party conducted. It was free and fair and i have no doubt that this one won’t be different because it is the same party and executive leaders. I know that Oyegun led national executives will insist on credible process.
Kenneth Imansuagbon threatened to go for the ticket somewhere else if APC refused to elect him as the flagbearer.
Kenneth and i are two different people talking from different perspective. I am not running and i am talking as a true party man.
What if he wins the primary and the other aspirants are angry, will he also allow them to leave or will he be happy for them to leave? As a true party man, i want the APC to continue to run Edo State because they have done well. I am a major stakeholder so i under the mission of APC in this country and i fully endorse it.
BENIN—EDO State Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Benin City, yesterday dismissed the petition by Mr. Samson Osagie of All Progressives Congress, APC, challenging the election of Senator Matthew Urhoghide of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the representative of Edo South senatorial district.
The tribunal dismissed the petition on the grounds of incompetence.
The tribunal, in its ruling delivered by Justice Raymond Ozoemena, held that the petition lacked merit as it was not signed by lead counsel to the petitioners, Samson Osagie, APC, or any of their counsels.
The tribunal ruled that the petition which was not in compliance with the law, be struck out for lack of competence.
Counsel to the respondent, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), who commended the ruling, described it as victory for the rule of law, while counsel to Mr. Osagie, Mr. Osaro Osemwengie, said the ruling was a somersault of justice.
Reacting to the ruling, Edo State PDP, through its Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, said: “This ruling today is a further confirmation that not only have the people of Edo State rejected the APC and the Governor Adams Oshiomhole‘s government, it also shows that they have been rejected by the law as well.
“PDP wishes to thank all Edo people for their support during the last election and assure them that a mandate given to us will be vigorously defended at all times and won’t be taken for granted. We implore Edo people to remain patient in the face of the obnoxious policies of this government in the areas of taxation, harsh and uncivilized treatment of civil servants, pensioners, teachers, traders, market women and businesses in general.
“We ask the patient and peace loving people of Edo state to remain calm as the election for governor of Edo state is around the corner and I want you to know that only PDP can deliver real change in Edo State. With your mandate, we will implement a clear plan to turn our economy around and give all our people the best chance of success. It is a plan to create more jobs, give more hope to young people and to give families across the 18 local government areas more financial security and peace of mind. A PDP government in 2016 will be transparent and financially prudent.”
