A member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, Charles Idahosa, has said that Senator Matthew Urhoghide was denied the senatorial ticket of the then Action Congress in 2011 to safeguard the interests of Edo South (Benin).
According to him, the interests of Edo South were being subjugated by politicians from other parts of the state.
Idahosa, who fell out with Governor Godwin Obaseki after moving to the PDP with the governor in 2020, was reacting to the public apology tendered by former governor of the state, Senator Adams Oshiomhole to Urhoghide, last week when he and others were formally received back into the APC, a gesture he said was commendable.
He also commended the appointment of Urhoghide as the Director General of the Edo State APC Campaign Council for this year’s governorship election
He said, “I commend Oshiomhole for doing that and I congratulate Urhoghide too for his maturity and magnanimity. He is back in the APC even though he was a founding member and I congratulate him on his new appointment as the DG of the APC campaign council.
“I was the political adviser to Oshiomhole at that time and I take responsibility for advising him. I don’t know if other people did but I advised him and I mounted pressure on him but I did that as a matter of exigency.
“At that time, the state government was being treated like an inconsequential institution. The late Tony Anenih was a very strong man in the politics of Edo State; he held sway as the PDP National Leader.
“We in AC just came in then. Oshiomhole was in his first tenure and it was time to appoint a Niger Delta Development Commission commissioner. It was not that we didn’t like Urhoghide or that there was something extraordinary about Uzamere.
“Urhoghide was waiting in the wings because he has always wanted to go to the senate. I worked on Oshiomhole and convinced him that it was a fight for the Benin interest. Naturally, Urhoghide was enraged, but it was a fight for the Benin interest.
“Eventually, Urhoghide still went to the senate and did two terms, and he has done very well; he is one of the most visible senators we have ever produced.”