You can’t extend your political empire to Edo, Obaseki replies Tinubu

The Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the Edo State Election, Godwin Obaseki, has faulted claims made by the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a televised broadcast on Tuesday.

Obaseki said this in a press statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie.

The statement was titled ‘You can’t extend your political empire to our state – Edo govt tells Tinubu’.
Obaseki boasted that Tinubu cannot extend his political empire to Edo State, noting that Edo people were determined to end godfatherism in the state.

In the broadcast, Tinubu had said Obaseki does not deserve a single vote in Saturday’s election, asking voters to reject the PDP candidate.

Reacting, the statement read, “Our attention has been drawn to a television broadcast in which a former Lagos State Governor and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has built his political built his political empire at the expense of the people. allegations about the Edo State House of Assembly and other claims in the broadcast are completely false,” he added.

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.