By Myke Uzendu
Barely 103 days to the Edo state governorship election, former Commissioner for Information and National Orientation and Member of Ward 5 of the Peoples Democratic party (PDP) Hon. Kashim Afegbua has stated that Gov. Godwin Obaseki is unfit to be reelected into the Dennis Osadebe government House, Benin City.
Adegbua who was a Commissioner under former governor Adams Oshiomhole and who worked for Hon. Omorgie Ogbaide-Ihama for the prime position until he stepped down, said that Obaseki’s misrule is very glaring. He accused the PDP of caving in to the financial pressure from Obaseki, accusing the party of surrendering its structure to a man who was just three days old in the party and whom they had earlier accused of lacking in capacity and vision to govern Edo state.
The PDP Chieftain in a statement on Sunday declared his support for Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) saying that he will ensure that he delivers his ward and the entire state to the APC candidate.
According of Adegbua, “Democracy talks about constructive engagement and collective bargaining. It preaches inclusion not exclusion. It reinforces participation, involvement and collectivity.
“Governor Obaseki is the opposite of what an ideal democratic situation should be. His politics is destructive, exclusive, and demonising. He acts alone, intoxicated by the sheer banality of being called the leader of the party, and glamourises in the vainglorious euphoria that he owns life and death. He demolishes houses, terrorises the populace, intimidates opponents and radicalises the youths as a mark of magisterial presence.
“He dishes out ingratitude in place of gratitude, a simple thank you becomes abominable in his elocution, as he gleefully spends tax payers money to fight imaginary wars. Such a candidate cannot enjoy my support. I had thought the party would interrogate him on all fronts before it gifted the tickets to him, but alas, in an age of money politics, the pockets speak louder than the mouth”.
He went further to declared unequivocally his support for the candidate of the APC, Ize-Iyamo.
“For Edo’s combustible politics of late, occasioned by the intemperate response by Governor Obaseki, it is only human to have a man with subliminal humility and peace to assume the leadership of governance in the state.
“This is why Osagie Ize-Iyamu fits my endorsement. The man for whom Oshiomhole went above board to call Ize-Iyamu unprintable names has since shown his true colours”
Afegbua challenged the PDP to point out what had changed in their criticisms of the administration of Obaseki who it had scored as a failure few days back.
“Only three months ago, the state chapter of the PDP lambasted Governor Obaseki’s lacklustre leadership in the state, and scored him F9 in all the critical sectors of the Edo economy; health, education, human capital development, infrastructure, and economy.
“The party mocked his job creation initiative that had yielded no positive result other than recruiting his driver and a few domestic staff. We raised queries about his style of governance that dwells so much on Memorandum of Understanding without concrete implementation”.
He went further to mention how Obaseki neglected roads in Okpella his (Adegbua’s) home town after several promises that did not materialise despite the huge contributions of the town the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
“The roads in my limestone community of Okpella have remained mere eyesore, begging for completion from where Oshiomhole took them, yet, Okpella contributes hugely to the internally generated revenue. Thrice, Governor Obaseki came to promise my people, raised their hopes, and dashed their hopes without qualms”.
The PDP Chieftain said that directing the Chairman of ward 5 Okpella to suspend him would deter him from moving his support against the PDP.
