Governor Adams Oshiomhole says he will waive his immunity if the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu wishes to contest in court that he was not involved in an acid attack on a fellow student at the University of Benin in 1984.

Speaking at a rally of the All Progressives Congress in Uromi, Wednesday, Oshiomhole also took a swipe at the former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih whom he accused of marginalising his own people of Esan land by refusing to attract development to them as Minister of Works.

According to Oshiomhole, Ize-Iyamu could not attend the Nigerian Law School and was not called to the Bar as a result of the incident at the University of Benin.

The Governor said: “I bear full responsibility in my personal capacity and I waive my immunity, I set my immunity aside and declare as follows before God that the other guy, Mr Ize-Iyamu, has a very interesting lifestyle. He went to the University of Benin to read Law, two years later he was rusticated, for two years, they drove him from school, because of acid attack on another student.
Today that student has been deformed for life, his manhood has been destroyed, today he can’t raise a family. That is his credential and that is why he could not go to the Law school, that is why, although he read law, he is not a Barrister.

The Governor said: “I bear full responsibility in my personal capacity and I waive my immunity, I set my immunity aside and declare as follows before God that the other guy, Mr Ize-Iyamu, has a very interesting lifestyle. He went to the University of Benin to read Law, two years later he was rusticated, for two years, they drove him from school, because of acid attack on another student.
Today that student has been deformed for life, his manhood has been destroyed, today he can’t raise a family

“Because of the crisis of identity, he picked up a Bible and said he is a pastor, that is he born again. The sins he committed, he has to continue to pray for that. Remember Pastor King? He is sentenced to death now. To carry a Bible does not give a clue as to whom you are, only God knows who is a true Christian. By their actions, we know who is a Christian, who is a Muslim, who is a pagan, who is a cultist, who is an honest man and who is a gentleman.

“Now he says he cannot be blamed for the failure of Igbinedion’s government, read today’s papers. There are two issues here, first he agreed that Igbinedion failed, the only thing he is saying is that he is not to be blamed. Alright, if we will not blame him for the failure of the government in which he was Chief of Staff and Secretary to Government would that be the reason to promote him to the Office of Governor? Tell me your friends, and I will show you whom you are, show me the government in which you served and I will tell you what you will do.”

On how Chief Anenih marginalised the people of Uromi and other people in other parts of Esan land, Oshiomhole said: “today, the crisis we face in driving from here to Benin is that emergency job they were trying to do when election was coming, they would do half a kilometre, they would jump three kilometres, do another half kilometre in a zig-zag manner that is how they destroyed the federal road. Today, to go to Benin is a nightmare. This present Federal Government must rebuild the road that PDP destroyed, we will have to because we didn’t promise to lament, we brought a message of hope.
“In my capacity as the Adolor of Esanland, I’m proud to say that I’ve done more road works, from Irrua to Usugbenu, from Usugbenu to Ugbegun, Ugbegun to Ujogba, Ujogba to Ebudin, Igueben to Udo, Igueben to Ewohinmi, Ewohinmi to Ohordua, Ohordua to Emu.

“So when they say Comrade wants to exterminate Esan people, you ask them: when Alli was Governor, an Esan man, who removed him?

“It will be said that in every local government, the eighteen local governments of Edo State, I have built schools, I have built roads, I have brought water I have ensured that teachers are paid. That is my testimonial, no one can accuse me of bias. I have defined my place in the politics of Esan land.”

“For Anenih, after you have been Minister, you made Onolemenemen Minister, Itotoh Minister, Onolemenmen Minister again, Ugbesia Minister, you Board of Trustees Chairman, your people have no water and then you blame it on Oshiomhole. He’s a Catholic and the Bible says, thou shalt not lie. As a Catholic, I say before God that our Chief was not correct.

“Truth is that the contract was awarded in 2005 under Igbinedion’s PDP government, so if N300 million was the issue, is he saying he can’t afford from his pocket to pay the money for his people to get water? Some of our people here have spent more than that on community development.

They awarded the contract, they took the money, pocketed the money did not do the job. However, I have called the current Minister of Water Resources and I said to him that since PDP did not give Uromi people water, we in APC as a party of Change, a party that promised to rebuild and reposition Nigeria and correct the injustices of the past, we must do what they failed to do. So President Buhari’s government, over the next few months, will complete the Uromiu water project. Uromi people, you will drink water, courtesy of APC.”
On his part, Governorship candidate of the APC, Mr Godwin Obaseki assured the people of Uromi that he will build on what has been achieved by the APC government in the last seven and half years.

He said: “I want to give you a message of hope, that what you have seen in the last seven-and-half-years will be a child’s play compared to what you will see in the next four to eight years.

“We will build on what we have done in the last 71/2 years, you will believe me because we have built roads, we have refurbished schools, we have provided water, but I will be the first person to tell you that what we have done in the past 71/2 years is just scratching the surface.

“Over the next four years we will build more roads in Esan North East, by the grace of God, when we come in, we will refurbish all the schools we have not refurbished.

“In the next four years, we want to emphasise on human development, we want to focus on the people of Esan North East and we will provide 200,000 jobs in the first four years. We will ensure we get investors to invest in Uromi, particularly in poultry farming.”

He promised to grant soft loans to market women in the Local Government to enable them to expand their trades, saying women as good managers of resources will do better if they got the soft loans.