By Teddy Nwanunobi
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) caucus in the House of Representatives have dismissed as a brazen falsehood and deliberate misinformation the claim by former Edo State Governor, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, that his security record in Edo surpassed that of the NDC presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, in Anambra State.
The Leader of the caucus, Hon Afam Victor Ogene, gave the response in a statement he signed, and made available to journalists in Abuja.
Oshiomhole, in a recent podcast interview, had alleged that Obi’s performance on security in Anambra was abysmal, arguing he is unfit to lead Nigeria out of the prevailing insecurity crisis.
“Senator Oshiomhole’s revisionist attempt to rewrite history is both laughable and insulting to Nigerians who know the facts. The data on security under Obi’s tenure in Anambra remains public record, and no amount of political grandstanding can erase it.
”Oshiomhole has now officially joined the growing league of self-appointed press secretaries to President Tinubu. His trademark loquaciousness routinely puts him at odds with his own colleagues in the Senate, and he invariably ends up issuing humiliating apologies.
”In his latest desperate bid for ranking status among presidential attack dogs, Oshiomhole has again flown off tangent, mangling basic facts that even secondary school students know. What revisionist history would Oshiomhole teach Nigerian children when he cannot accurately situate simple national events?
”For the record: the Bakassi Boys operated under the four-year administration of the late Chinawoke Mbadinuju. Yet in his haste to smear Obi, Oshiomhole conveniently erased the three-year tenure of Dr. Chris Ngige before Obi’s assumption of office in 2006.
”It is pitiable that a man who governed Edo State during Obi’s tenure would be so consumed by envy that he deliberately forgets basic facts. This is the same Oshiomhole who, while Obi was bringing civility and due process to governance in Anambra, was busy demolishing the houses of political opponents in Edo.
”Indeed, for a man who pioneered the current attempt at evolving a state police structure, through the recruitment, training, kitting, and provision of security vehicles to each of Anambra’s 177 communities, it is uncharitable for Senator Oshiomhole to begin now to promote a contrary narrative.
”Despite several security-related awards garnered by Obi as governor, Oshiomhole’s desperate revisionism collapses under the weight of verifiable testimony. Philemon Leha, who served as Commissioner of Police in Anambra State during Mr. Peter Obi’s tenure has put the record straight:
”Like every other Nigerian, Obi is entitled to exercise his fundamental rights. Oshiomhole, and any one else, is free to run for the highest office if they so desire. No amount of sponsored smear campaigns,therefore, can deny Obi of that same democratic rights,” the statement read.