The Labour leader turns politician and Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, on Wednesday, took a swipe at a former Minister of
Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godsday Orubebe, saying the erstwhile minister should
be jailed.
Oshiomhole also
said that the ex-minister was afraid of being probed by President Muhammadu
Buhari over the multi-billion naira East-West Road contract.
The governor, who
spoke in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Peter Okhiria, said that
Orubebe was afraid of being probed for the amnesty programme he supervised
under the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
The governor
said, “Is it not a shame that Orubebe, who should be cooling his heels in jail
for that failed plot to truncate the country’s democracy, has now found a
convoluted voice?
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“We are not
surprised at the timing of Orubebe’s latest outburst. It is, no doubt,
unconnected with the planned probe by President Muhammadu Buhari of the
billions of naira allocated to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, even as the
East-West Road remains in bad shape and the probe of the fleecing of amnesty funds
under his watch.”
Oshiomhole was
reacting to a recent statement credited to Orubebe, where the latter reportedly
described the governor as an ingrate for being critical of the President
Goodluck Jonathan administration.
Orubebe was
quoted to have said that Oshiomhole had failed to show appreciation to the
former president whom he accused the governor of running to for help.
“It is
unfortunate that Oshiomhole, who should talk like a governor, is today biting
the fingers that fed him and seems to have forgotten in a hurry that he once
cried around the former president for assistance and recognition,” Orubebe was
quoted to have said.
But the governor
said Orubebe did not only contribute to the dismal failure of the
administration of the former President but nearly plunged the nation into an
avoidable crisis in the 2015 presidential election, due to his “un-ministerial”
conduct.
Oshiomhole said,
“It is no surprise that former President Goodluck Jonathan failed woefully
because he surrounded himself with such charlatans as Godsday Orubebe, whose
only credential is his ethnic origin and the large size of his bowler hat.
“Does Orubebe
really think Nigerians are fools? Does he truly believe Nigerians have
forgotten so soon the ignoble role he played in his attempt to truncate the
release of the election results and announcement of the eventual winner of that
election, a move which could have plunged the nation into another civil war?
“We are aware
that Orubebe, the perpetual noise maker has raised the decibel of his noise a
notch higher so that he would have a ready-made defence of witch-hunt if he is
indicted in the planned probe of amnesty funds.”