Why Oba of Benin denied Senator Adams Oshiomole’s claim, By Anthony Isibor
It was a mild drama on Sunday when the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, openly denied Senator Adams Oshiomole’s claim that the Benin monarch had advised him against picking Governor Obaseki as his successor in 2016.
In the video which had gone viral, Oshiomhole, while on his kneel said: “Your Royal Majesty, I would like to remain on my knees, first to apologize to Your Majesty for my poor judgment, 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, who had always been outspoken about his political neutrality, swiftly denied the allegation by Sen. Oshiomole, cutting him off.
In his response, the Oba said: “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) is your witness when you brought him to introduce him to me. You talked about Odubu (Oshiomhole’s deputy governor) voting against my father’s choice.”
Either Senator Adams Oshiomole, the All Progressive Congress leader in Edo State, was carried away by the euphoria of the party’s victory in state, or he had completely forgotten the positionOba Ewuare II on politics.
Recall that in June, at the heat of the campaign, the Oba had also denied the assertion of Olumide Akpata, the Labour Party’s candidate in the election, when he had addressed himself as a son of the palace, a statement, which wasn’t corrected, would have been seen as an endorsement by the Palace.
Akpata, in his speech, had noted that his father had told him that he was a ‘son of the palace’
He said: “As my father has said previously, I’m a son of the palace. And so, I feel comfortable. I feel bold enough to come to seek your Royal Majesty’s blessing. And to report to your royal majesty that the Labour Party in Edo State is strong and vibrant and we’re going to go around all 18 local governments and 192 wards to pass on the message to our people,” he told the palace.
However, the Oba didn’t hold back in reminding Akpata that although there were people with distant relations to the royal family, who also address themselves as children of the palace, Akpata didn’t fall into that category.
“People that introduce themselves as children of the palace. There are some others that are distantly related that are not exactly from the royal family that can also address themselves as children of the palace.
“When he (Akpata) said he’s a child of the palace, he said it in English, I think he said it in Benin as well. So I was wondering, as he’s campaigning now, I have called my chief here that is it true that he’s a child of the palace and I don’t know about it.
“We know him very well. He’s an industrious son of the soil. True indigenous son of the soil. But to say a child of the palace, I don’t know whether any of them is a politician. So, I just want that clarification for the sake of the public and the fourth estate of the realm.
“So sorry o. I hope you don’t mind that clarification. You’re an industrious, indigenous son of the soil. We all know that. I know I supported you when you were president of the NBA.
“I had to call El-Rufai to support you that they should look after you when some issues came up during that conference or that El-Rufai was banned or something.
“Remember I had to speak to him. I said that ‘he’s our son.’ That they should look after him and all. He doesn’t have anything to do with the quarrel that’s ongoing in Kaduna. I know I spoke for you.
“So just to be clear, we’re not particularly against you. I just wanted to clarify that identification you made just now, so I hope you don’t mind,” the Oba asked the Labour Party’s candidate.
The monarch said he conducted his chief to find out if the former NBA chairman is remotely related to the royal family, and the response was negative.
For that reason, he respectfully asked the Labour Party’s candidate to clarify what he meant by the attribution.
While politicians have continued to seek the Palace’s endorsement through several methods, the Oba has remained steadfast in reiterating his non-partisan status while giving his blessings to all candidates irrespective of party without openly endorsing any.
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