Governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki has warned that Nigeria risked breaking up if the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) won the 2023 presidential election in 2023.
Speaking at the inauguration of the PDP campaign council in Benin City, Obaseki said the future of the country was dependent on the outcome of the 2023 polls, as only the PDP could save the nation from its current socio-economic woes and place it on the path of sustainable growth and development.
“This 2023 election will be won by what we do now, not what we do on election day. I believe this will be an easy election for us as a party if we campaign. Our heads should be examined if the All Progressives Congress (APC) wins,” he said.
However, a supporter of the presidential aspiration of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Kassim Afegbua, said Obaseki’s utterances which many have viewed as a fairly negative review, is not only careless, not only irresponsible, but a deliberate attempt to alter the apple card in the build up to the 2023 elections, knowing full well that his beglared candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has no where to go.
“In order to whip up undue sentiments among his coterie of aides and supporters, knowing full well that Edo is organised into two formidable groups, that of the governor and that of Peter Obi, he just wanted to say something that would draw attention to him and cover up his failures in the governance of the state.
Mr Afegbua asserted that a government that is operating effectively, responsively, and capable of meeting the needs and expectations of the populace won’t wake up and accuse the federal government or another government elsewhere when he has left his own government in rots, decay and failure.
He added that the issue of insecurity and cases of kidnapping is currently very high in Edo state which needs to be addressed.
Mr Afegbua stated that it is very easy and very convenient for people to always want to place blame rather than face the responsibility of their own leadership.
“I would have been happier if Obaseki had not plunged Edo state into debts since he came in. For him to derive the moral authority to complain about Nigerian debts going up to 60 trillion naira.
” If you look at the breakdown of debts in Nigeria, state governments share a responsibility. They share a part of all of that debt and Edo state is not an exception.
“Obaseki spent his almost first four years as a member of the APC. He was part and parcel of the power process of the APC.
“Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was also part and parcel of the APC, he did not only participate in the process of showing up the leadership of the APC in 2015, he also donated his spokesman Garba Shehu to the APC and by extension to President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Obaseki left the APC in 2017 because he needed to contest an election and knew he wouldn’t be able to get a ticket in the APC.
“They need to be constantly reminded so that history will be properly documented, that they were part and parcel of the whole process.
Mr Afegbau noted that there are currently two groups of PDP members in Edo state: the Legacy Group, which consists of the original members of the PDP before Obaseki came, and his own government group, which consists of those who came with him from the APC to the PDP and have refused to properly integrate themselves, preferring to become landlords, knowing that they came to meet certain structures on the ground.
“When you are pointing one finger at the federal government, the four others are pointing at Obaseki, because Edo state is also a debtor state.
“Obaseki is owing money, he has taken loans since he came on board, even though we have not seen corresponding performance with respect to loans that he has collected, we have not also seen the resources gotten from federal allocations. We have not seen the corresponding impact on the money he took on security vote, the corresponding impact has not been seen because Edo is still largely an endangered specie.
“As the number one citizen of that state, we expect him to wake up to the responsibilities of providing leadership so that life could be better for the ordinary people.
“Rather than apportioning blame, calling federal government and saying we have 60 trillion, Obaseki should look inwards and tell us what he has done with the resources he has gotten from the federal government,” Mr Kassim added.
On leaving the APC for PDP, Mr Kasim said he lft of his own volition when he discovered that he wasn’t given enough ground and opportunity to continue offer his advise.
“I left PDP formally in June this year after the presidential primaries, and I make bold to say that my position was very clear, unambiguous, and straight to the point.
“Within the PDP formation, there is and there are provisions in the Constitution which supports zoning of positions with respect to all the geopolitical zones between north and south. There are provisions that also encourage equity, fairness and justice in the way and manner the dispense with the positions, whether elective or appointment