The Edo State Governor, 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?
“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.”
