Edo 2020: Obaseki Rues Not Joining PDP Early Enough

Incumbent Governor of Edo State and governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Godwin Obaseki says he rues not joining the party early enough.

Obaseki, while receiving his certificate of returns at the PDP National Secretariat, Abuja on Saturday, hailed the party for representing his long-sought political values.

“It was only when we entered the house (PDP) that we realised that this was the house we should have been in the first instance,” he said.

“Because we now saw that the values in the house are the values we cherish and the values we lived for; values of justice, values of law and order, values of care for our people, putting the people first.

“These are the values we have always been in pursuit of, which we found in this new house in which we have been graciously accommodated.

“My deputy and I are very grateful to this great party. Like I said, you will never know what God has destined for you. In our hours of tribulation, when we were pushed out in the rains and storm from our political party, you came out with that huge umbrella to give us cover and shelter”.

The governor thanked the PDP National Working Committee for the quality of governance and response he witnessed.

“That has enabled us achieve much in less than one week because of the responsiveness of the National Organising Secretary,” he said.

“They followed up on every issue and every document. When issues came up, the National Legal Adviser was there to respond to all our inquiries. The National Publicity Secretary checked on us every day.”

The PDP flag-bearer further assured his party leaders that the Edo people would always follow him to whichever political he chose to belong.

“I want to commit to you that we shall promote the ideals of this great party and you can always count on us. Whenever the National Working Committee calls on us, we will be there,” he said.

“We have no choice because from what I have seen from my brother governors in this party, what they have done and what they did for us in the party, revived my political career, I have never seen that level of commitment.”

On his part, the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus who presented the certificate of return to the governor, assured him of inclusiveness, equity, justice and fairness at all times.

“We have learnt from our mistakes and we have reformed so we have come with open arms to embrace everybody. We are not a sectional party, we will not be there and some parts of the country will be crying. Nigeria belongs to all us,” said Secondus.

“Today, we have taken an important step to ensure that Edo people believe in us. They believe in us and they will vote for PDP. So from Edo, we will move to Ondo and gradually to all parts of the country.

“Everybody believed that for the governor to join the PDP was a miracle and we are going to have a miracle governor who will win elections for us because you can see clearly the hand of God on this governor and his deputy.

“Your Excellency, in PDP we are guided by the rule of law, we are guided by our rules and we are guided by the people’s interest.

“We are driven by the fact that we must provide the best governance for our people. Since you came in, you can see that we are guided by process.

“In PDP, the institution here has a system that is transparent, free and fair for all to see and you have witnessed it since the last few weeks. God has been our guide here, we are a people, a party that fear God and we put the interest of our people first not our personal interests.”

Obaseki will go against his 2016 rival and candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu who is believed to have the backing of the immediate past national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole.

The governorship election will hold on Saturday, September 19 in the state.