‘You Can’t Extend Your Political Empire To Edo’ — Obaseki Hits Tinubu

The Edo state governor Godwin Obaseki has responded to a call on Tuesday by the former Lagos state governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for people of the state to vote him out on the elections scheduled for September 19,2020.

The Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said in a statement that the former Lagos State Governor and Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), cannot extend his political empire to Edo State as the people of the state are determined to end the godfatherism.

The statement issued in Benin City, the Edo State capital on Tuesday, Osagie said the, “Our attention has been drawn to a television broadcast in which a former Lagos State Governor and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his quest to extend his political dominance and empire to Edo State, decided to take over the role of Edo people to choose through the ballot who to govern them for the next four years.”

Osagie noted: “It has become obvious that the spirited fight which Edo people have put up against godfatherism has sent tremors beyond the shores of Edo ”

Stressing that Edo people are committed to ending godfatherism in the state, he said: “Tinubu knows clearly that come September 19, when godfatherism would have been dismantled in Edo State, the people of Lagos may just have found the recipe and formula for removing the chokehold placed on their collective destinies for decades, hence the inciting television broadcast.

“He should take note that Edo people do not yield their will, liberty and power of choice to oppressive figures because they are perceived to have economic and political means. Like one of the great sons of Edo, former Governor and former National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, recently said, our people do not give in to ‘primitive loyalties.’ We always chase noble causes and a little study of our history, should show Tinubu the indomitable spirit of the Edo person.

“Edo stands in the heart of the old Midwestern Region, which was the only region created through plebiscite, which underscores our capacity to determine our destiny as a people. The blood which ran in the veins of the leaders of that time is still the same that runs in the vein of the leaders of Edo State today.”

He urged: “We call on all Edo people, friends of Nigeria and all lovers of democracy to disregard all the comments by Tinubu, as the allegations about the Edo State House of Assembly and other claims in the broadcast are completely false.

“We urge the irrepressible people of Edo State to disregard the threats and come out en-masse on September 19 to vote for Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as their voice and vote are supreme in the governorship contest.”

He maintained that “the outcome of next Saturday’s election would reinforce the reigning saying in Edo’s public sphere, Edo No be Lagos, and provide for the people of Lagos a template to dislodge godfatherism as well as set the stage for the realization of the full potentials of Lagos, which Lagosians have been denied of for decades.”