Edo Poll: No Victory Sweeter Than This – Atiku

…Says It’s End To Godfatherism
…Ortom Congratulates Obaseki

Former Vice-President (VP), Atiku Abubakar, and the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, are celebrating the re-election of Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, for a second term.

Both politicians have congratulated, Obaseki, who won the election by polling 307,955 votes to defeat the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

Ize-Iyamu, the governor’s main challenger, polled 223,619 ballots to place second in the election conducted on Saturday.

Obaseki won the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ortom said the victory of Obaseki was a true reflection of the wishes of the Edo people and not the “machinations of some individuals and self-made gods.”

In a statement his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, Ortom commended what he described as the dogged determination of the governor  to “overcome intimidation and uphold the mandate his people popularly gave him.”

For the former VP, the victory of Obaseki is a declaration of “Independence from the anti-democratic forces of godfatherism and militarism.”

Abubakar made a veiled reference to the former APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiohmole, and National Leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, believed to be the godfathers of the APC governorship candidate, Ize-Iyamu.

He said: “There is a new dawn in Edo State, and the hard-won victory of Governor Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki is not just a victory, but a Declaration of Independence from the anti-democratic forces of godfatherism and militarism. No victory could be sweeter than this, and I heartily congratulate the Governor and the good people of Edo state for their resilience in the face of the forces arrayed against them.”

He noted that the state had a rich history as the centre of Black civilisation, and by the polls, added another record to itself as “the bastion of Nigerian democracy.”

Abubakar added: “This double whammy of ancient and modern glories is a testament to a people who have for centuries set the pace as a beacon of light on the African continent.

“I most heartily congratulate the Peoples Democratic Party, who stood shoulder to shoulder, with the people of Edo and their Government, in good times and bad. We in the PDP have shown that we are not fair-weather friends to the good people of Edo. In good times, we will walk beside you. In bad times, we will be your loyal ‘comrade’. We will never be a turncoat. We will never abandon the principles we once espoused so that we can dine with our nemesis. Democracy has no nemesis. And this, the PDP has again proved.

“I look forward to the continuation of four more years of tangible development, and people centered leadership from Governor Obaseki. I also seize this opportunity to thank His Royal Highness, the Oba of Benin, Omo N’oba N’Edo Uku Akpolopkolo, Ewuare II, for the fatherly role he played as a neutral catalyst for peace. That this election was, by and large, free from violence, is a testament of the long and effective shadow he casts over his domain.”

The former PDP presidential candidate in the 2019 general election called on Ize-Iyamu to accept the hand of fellowship Obaseki might likely extend to him, saying that he knew the governor “to be a magnanimous man.”

He said the APC’s candidate was amongst strange bedfellows, adding that “I remind him that no matter how far one has gone on a wrong road, it is never too late to turn back and head in the right direction. The PDP is the right direction.”

He used the opportunity to charge the people of Ondo state to follow the path the Edo people had taken “from the oppressive grasp of godfathers and external forces that seek to dominate your will and eviscerate your treasury, is possible.”

He said, “Edo has done it. You can do it too!”