Edo election: Atiku asks Edo voters to vote Governor Obaseki

Atiku counters Tinubu. Atiku Abubakar, the Former Vice-President, has asked the Edo voters to cast their votes for of Godwin Obaseki the Peoples Democratic Party candidate in the coming Governorship election on Saturday in Edo State.

Alhaji Atiku tweeted this a few hours after Bola Tinubu, the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, said Godwin Obaseki does not deserve a single vote in the coming governorship election.

Asiwuaju Bola Hamed in a video posted online said, “He (Obaseki) does not deserve any democratic ballot paper. Don’t vote for him, I appeal to all of you.”

But Obaseki debunked Tinubu’s claim, noting that Tinubu would fail in his attempt “to extend his political dominance and empire to Edo State”.

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Former Vice-President, in his tweet, warned against any act of violence during the Saturday election.

Atiku Abubakar said, “The democracy that we enjoy today was bought at a great price. We can only deepen and sustain it by respecting the sanctity of the ballot and critical review of our electoral processes.

“As the great people of Edo State go to the polls to elect their governor this weekend, they need to be provided with a secured environment to cast their votes and be assured that their votes will count.

“I urge all duly registered voters of conscience and who truly care about the wellbeing of Edo to turn out en masse to cast and defend their vote for @GovernorObaseki.”

One of the allegations raised by Tinubu against Obaseki was preventing the inauguration of lawmakers.

But Obaseki in a press statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr Crusoe Osagie, replied, “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.”

The crisis in the Edo State House of Assembly began when it was inaugurated under controversial circumstances at night with only nine, out of 24 lawmakers-elect, on June 17, 2019, following a proclamation by the governor.
The lawmakers, who were not part of the process, as well as the APC, rejected the process and called on the governor to issue a fresh proclamation.

However, a Federal High Court in Rivers State barred the governor from doing so. A separate court also barred the National Assembly from taking over the Edo Assembly.

This worsened the crisis within the APC in the state and deepened the feud between Obaseki and his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole, who was also the National Chairman of the APC.

The governor orchestrated the suspension of Oshiomhole from the party at the ward level. In retaliation, Oshiomhole ensured that Obaseki did not clinch the governorship ticket of the APC and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu emerged as the winner of the primary.

The crisis in the Edo State chapter of the APC and the multiple court rulings on Oshiomhole’s suspension snowballed into a national problem that culminated in the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), dissolving the National Working Committee of the APC causing Oshiomhole to lose his position.

An attempt by the aggrieved lawmakers to be inaugurated was, however, scuttled by men claiming to be renovating the Assembly complex.

However, the APC claimed the men were thugs hired by the governor who was afraid of being impeached.