Edo APC leaders on collision course over Obaseki’s second term bid

Some groups in Edo South Senatorial District have started bickering on why they will not support Governor Godwin Obaseki for a second term in office.

Their verdict followed the position of a group in the state’s All Progressives Congress (APC), under the aegis of Edo Peoples Movement (EPM), which has declared that it would not support the governor’s second term bid.

Their position bothers on issues of governance and politics, which have become a major challenge to the APC in the build up to the gubernatorial primary election.

Party loyalists with the EPM have also warned that the national leadership of the party may unwittingly give the state to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), if their entreaties to urgently address issues raised by some APC members are ignored.

But a chieftain of the party from Edo North, the Egure Oshiomoshiofu of Igarra, Chief Adewole Mayaki, insisted that the plot against Obaseki’s second term bid was an exercise in futility and was, therefore, bound to fail.

One of the politicians, Engr. Francis Evbuowan at a meeting convened by former Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Samson Osagie and former Edo Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Henry Idahagbon, had expressed dissatisfaction over developments in the party under Obaseki.

Osagie said they were committed to rescuing the APC due to the huge loss it suffered in the last Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.

But Obaseki has insisted that his administration would not compromise but continue to serve Edo people, noting that his cabinet members were not in public office to amass wealth or gain fame but to deliver dividends of democracy.

Obaseki, who argued that the task ahead was enormous, said nothing would distract him from focusing on his promise to deliver good governance.

However, the Concerned Edo Youths has protested against those purportedly working against Obaseki’s second term bid.

Its Coordinator, Kelly Okungbowa, said: “Godwin Obaseki is 4+4. 2020 is non-negotiable. We want to let them know that happening in Zamfara, Lagos, Ogun, Imo and other states will not happen in Edo State.”

Meanwhile, another group, the Obaseki Volunteer Network yesterday berated politicians who are working against Obaseki’s reelection bid in spite of his developmental strides.

It urged the politicians to maintain decorum and allow Edo people to decide who should govern them.

A statement jointly issued by Coordinator of the group, Solomon Okoduwa and its Secretary, Joshua Uhunmwangho, said the politicians were plotting the governor’s exit ‘over a pot of porridge’.