Former Edo State Governor and Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has said that security in the state under his administration was better than what obtained in Anambra State under former Governor Peter Obi.
This is as the All Progressives Congress chieftain faulted opposition figures, including Obi and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, for criticising President Bola Tinubu’s handling of insecurity in Nigeria without providing practical approaches to addressing the challenge.
Speaking on the Mic On Podcast with host Seun Okinbaloye, Oshiomhole said insecurity started under Atiku’s tenure as vice president, while Obi failed to tackle insecurity, particularly the activities of the Bakassi Boys vigilante group.
In the video posted on Sunday, the lawmaker also challenged Obi’s credentials on security, arguing that the Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate could not control the Bakassi Boys, whose activities reportedly escalated into widespread kidnapping and lawlessness in Anambra.
“Go back to Anambra State and play back. What were the first major decisions that Governor Obiano took when he succeeded Peter Obi as governor?” Oshiomhole said.
He recalled visuals of Governor Willie Obiano using bulldozers to demolish properties linked to kidnappers and the Bakassi Boys, whom he said had “gotten out of control” under Obi.
Oshiomhole added, “Peter Obi could not fix security in Anambra State. It took the intervention of Governor Obiano, who took over from him, to begin to destroy the properties of those who he believed had used them for kidnapping… where wife kidnapped husband, husband kidnapped wife. It got to that level
“I was a governor then; my state was safer than Anambra.”
The former Edo governor questioned Obi’s ability to provide concrete solutions to national challenges, criticising what he described as vague rhetoric such as “do the right thing.”
“Everybody knows that things are not perfect, but a statesman must provide answers… We haven’t heard other than this buzzword, ‘do the right thing.’ What is the right thing? What is the left thing?” Oshiomhole asked.
He expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu would secure victory in the 2027 presidential election, predicting that Obi would not replicate or exceed the votes he garnered in 2023.
Oshiomhole served as Edo State governor from 2008 to 2016, while Peter Obi governed Anambra State from 2006 to 2014.
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