Obi: ‘Oshiomhole Missing the Mark’ – Says Former Supporter Zekeri Idris Jnr

A former supporter of Senator Adams Oshiomhole, Zekeri Idris Jnr, has criticised the lawmaker over his recent comments against Peter Obi, saying the former Edo State governor is “beginning to miss the mark.”

Speaking in response to Oshiomhole’s comments on the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Idris described the senator as a father figure to political leaders and young comrades in Edo State but said his recent conduct was disappointing.

“Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is supposed to be a father to all leaders and young comrades. However, it seems that our father is beginning to miss the mark, and as children, we have to call him to order so that the disgrace that is going to come from all this behaviour will not get to him,” Idris said.

He stressed that his criticism was motivated by respect rather than hostility, saying it came “from a place of love.”

Recalling his political involvement with Oshiomhole, Idris said he actively participated in the former governor’s campaigns as a teenager.

“As a young boy in 2007, I was running around with Oshiomhole for all his campaigns. I had not even entered the university then. As a university student in 2012, I also played a role in his re-election as governor of Edo State,” he said.

Idris added that he was a well-known supporter of Oshiomhole during his student days, noting that his nickname at the university was “Oshiomhole.”

“I am not an unknown quantity. I have been an identity. My nickname in the university was Oshiomhole. To see this same Oshiomhole now behaving in this manner is very heartbreaking,” he said.

He, however, urged attention to the substance of Oshiomhole’s criticisms of Obi, saying the issues raised should be addressed rather than focusing on personalities.

Oshiomhole had questioned the former Anambra State governor’s leadership credentials, accused him of abandoning political parties instead of rebuilding them, and claimed that Anambra was highly unsafe and that Obi failed to control the activities of the Bakassi Boys.

He stated that his own state (Edo) was much safer during that same period.