Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State on Wednesday said former Minister of the Niger Delta, Godsday Orubebe is afraid of President Muhammadu Buhari’s planned probe of several billions of naira squandered on the East-West road and on the Amnesty programme under his watch as Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs.
The governor said that fear of an impending probe was what triggered Mr. Orubebe’s latest outburst in the media.
Mr. Orubebe had on Tuesday described the Edo Governor as a “villa sycophant”.
“Is it not a shame that Orubebe who should be cooling off his heel in jail for that failed plot to truncate democracy has now found a convoluted voice?
Oshiomhole, in a statement by his spokesperson, Peter Okhiria, said the “incompetence” of people like Mr. Orubebe contributed to the dismal failure of the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan.
“Our attention has been drawn to the latest outburst of one clown called Godsday Orubebe in his attempt to taint the image of the Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
“It is no surprise that the 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.
“Here was a man whose un-ministerial conduct at the election nearly plunged the nation into an avoidable crisis
“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 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.
“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-hunting if he is indicted in the planned probe of Amnesty funds.
“Orubebe is a yesterday’s man. We could have chosen to ignore him like his Delta brother, Mr. Sunny Onuesoke, an unknown entity who doesn’t know the arithmetic of financing, but decided to delve into a matter of a World Bank loan, something completely beyond his mental and intellectual capacity, but we simply can’t let Orubebe have the last say.
“We are not unaware that it has now become the fad for drowning and neophyte politicians to take cheap shots at the impeccable character of the Comrade Governor just to gain cheap publicity. However, Orubebe’s image, as he himself knows, is beyond redemption.
“Is it not laughable that Orubebe, the clown, accused Oshiomhole of biting the fingers that fed him? Pray, how did Jonathan feed Oshiomhole? Did he feed Oshiomhole by supervising over a government that fleeced the nation of trillions of naira, thereby denying Edo State her rightful share of funds for development? Or did he feed Oshiomhole by canvassing votes for him!
“Our candid advice is for Orubebe, a perpetual failed governorship aspirant, to go to his family and apologise for the irreparable damage done to the family name with his infamous outburst beamed live to the whole world, before coming forward to confront Governor Adams Oshiomhole who is not in any way in the same class as him.
“It is no wonder that Nigeria was at a state of near collapse until President Muhammadu Buhari came on a rescue mission and rendered people like Orubebe irrelevant.
“Never again will characters like Orubebe take us on the path of Golgotha; never again will they hold sway in the affairs of Nigeria and ruin the collective aspiration of the people.”
