THE Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the Edo State Governorship Election, Godwin Obaseki, has lambasted the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, over his comments against his re-election bid, in a televised broadcast on Tuesday.
The governor, who reacted through a press statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, told Tinubu that he could not extend his political empire to Edo State.
The statement, titled, “You can’t extend your political empire to our state – Edo govt tells Tinubu”, stressed that Edo people were determined to end godfatherism in the state.
The APC chieftain, had, in the broadcast on TVC, said Obaseki was not part of the struggle for democracy and could not understand the value and pain associated with the struggle, among others
Reacting, Obaseki said, “Our attention has been drawn to a television broadcast in which a former Lagos State Governor and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, 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.
“It has become obvious that the spirited fight, which Edo people have put up against godfatherism has sent tremors beyond the shores of Edo to the likes of Tinubu, who has for years sustained a stranglehold on Lagos and other states in South-Western Nigeria, hence this desperate, last-ditch effort to rescue the unproductive political instrument, now popularly referred to as godfatherism, with which he has feathered his nest and built his political empire at the expense of the people.
“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 by Tinubu, hence the inciting television broadcast.”
Obaseki also refuted the allegation that he prevented the inauguration of lawmakers in Edo State, saying,
“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.”
Obaseki is contesting against Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the APC, among others, on September 19, 2020.
