Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, on Sunday, denied a claim by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole that the monarch advised against the candidature of the incumbent Governor, Godwin Obaseki, in 2016.
According to Tribune, the Oba made the denial when Oshiomhole led All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwarts to the palace after Saturday’s gubernatorial election victory.
Speaking while kneeling, Oshiomhole had claimed that the Benin monarch advised him against picking Obaseki as his successor in 2016 but he declined.
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.”