Governor Godwin Obaseki has been disqualified from contesting in the APC primary poll ahead of the Edo governorship election

• The chairman of the screening committee, Professor Jonathan Ayuba, announced Obaseki’s disqualification on Friday, June 12
• Ayuba said the Edo governor reportedly presented a Higher School Certificate which was not in existence

Governor Godwin Obaseki has been disqualified from contesting in the APC primaries for the Edo state governorship election.

The chairman of the screening committee, Professor Jonathan Ayuba, announced on Friday, June 12, that Obaseki and two other aspirants were disqualified from the primaries, The Tribune reported.

According to Ayuba, one of the reasons why the Edo governor was disqualified is that he presented a Higher School Certificate which was not in existence.

Another reason given by the panel is that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate presented by the governor did not have his name written properly.

The committee said based on the above-raised issues, Obaseki is not qualified to contest for the party primary scheduled for June 22.

Aside Obaseki, Ogiemwonyi and Iduoriyekemwen were also disqualified from the race while the trio of Ize-Iyamu, Odubu and Osaro Obazee were cleared.

Meanwhile, Victor Oshioke, a chieftain of APC has insisted that the University of Ibadan did not answer the questions raised by those querying the academic credentials of Obaseki.

According to him, nobody is disputing Obaseki’s claim that he graduated from the school. He said the only problem is about the credentials he said he obtained from the institution

According to him, based on the governor’s O/Level certificate, he (Obaseki) does not qualify to be admitted into the university.

He also claimed that the documents the former governor attached to his expression of interest form in 2016 are different from those he attached to his 2020 form.

It has also been argued that his UI degree certificate is different from the certificates of other UI alumni who graduated at the same time as the governor.

Going further, he urged the party not to forget that the Bayelsa catastrophe that all Edo APC members are trying to avoid was essentially about discrepancies in the names ascribed to the deputy governorship candidate at different times.

In another report, as the battle for the soul of Edo state intensifies among political players, APC crisis in the state took a dangerous circuit as two factions emerged ahead of the party’s primary election.

The two factions said to be loyal to the duo of Governor Godwin Obaseki and Adams Oshiomhole, have now been at loggerhead over the control of the party’s secretariat. Edo, Ondo gov election: INEC demands membership register from parties adopting direct primaries Oshiomhole, APC national chairman, had directed a letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), mandating the commission to relocate the state office from Airport Road, Benin City where David Imuse presides as Edo state APC chairman.

This, however, angered the chairman of another faction loyal to Governor Obaseki, Anslem Ojezua, who berated the party’s national chairman for constituting illegality. Ojezua said it is the duty of the state executive, according to the APC constitution, to determine where the party secretariat will be established.

The factional chairman vowed to seek a court pronouncement that will put a stop to the illegality ploy being played ahead of the primary election by Oshiomhole and his loyalists.