By SIMON EBEGBULEM
BENIN—THE Deputy Governor of Edo State, Dr Pius Odubu, Tuesday, described as baseless and untrue, the allegation that he denied aspirants who refused to be initiated into a particular cult in Orhiomnwon Local Government Area of the state, tickets for the general elections.

He said he was never a member of any secret cult, adding that he was not incharge of the conduct of the just concluded primaries of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN,  in the state. According to him,  “it will also be mischievous to say that because I want to succeed Governor Adams Oshiomhole that was what marred the primaries.”

The Deputy Governor was reacting to the allegation made by the former Director General of the Center for Democratic Studies, CDS, Prof.Omo Omoruyi, who accused him of excluding the name of his nephew, Dr Festus Imuetinya from the ballot papers during the primaries.

He alleged further that the primaries was a negation of the one man one vote campaign of the Governor due to the alleged attempt by the Deputy Governor to succeed Oshiomhole in  office.

However, Dr Odubu, who reacted through a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Kelly Odaro, said, “I have profound respect for the person of Prof. Omoruyi, the allegations credited to him over the defeat of his nephew in the ACN are indeed unfortunate and clearly indicated that he is treading the familiar path of a bad loser.”

He said that the insinuation of any manipulation to succeed Comrade Oshiomhole was “plain mischief, calculated to ignite tension and disaffection in a leadership team that is faithfully delivering development to Edo people, under the inspiring guidance of the Comrade Governor”.

According to the statement “it is difficult to reconcile Prof. Omoruyi’s erudition with such a frivolous claim, noting that no attempt to divide the governorship of Edo State would succeed.In two years of the first tenure of Governor Oshiomhole, any notion of succession is clearly premature and is not in the contemplation”.

Dr Odubu disclosed further that the Deputy Governor confirmed that Prof. Omoruyi had earlier brought his nephew to him for what he described as “endorsement”, whereas he had admonished the aspirant to prepare for the full process of the ACN primaries, consistent with the one_man, one_vote philosophy of the Party.

“At no point did I say that the ACN leaders would decide his nephew’s fate, although I noted quite frankly that Dr. Imuentiyan was not well known in the ACN family in Orhionmwon. That I removed the nephews name is also very untrue. He was screened and cleared, but obviously lost due to nobody’s fault” the statement asserted.