Emmanuel Adigwe
Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the Edo State All Progressives Congress candidate for the upcoming gubernatorial election, has berated Governor Obaseki for wasting state resources to attack Governor Ganduje of Edo State.
It can be recalled that there is a billboard of Governor Ganduje in Benin City which depicts the Kano state governor in bad light and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu stated that this action of the governor is irresponsible.
In a press statement by Mr. John Mayaki, the Director of Communication and Media of his Campaign Organization, Ize-Iyamu said that the action of the Governor Obaseki amounted to cheap political blackmail.
The statement said: “It is obvious to everyone in Edo State and beyond now that the outgoing Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, and his party of tax-collectors have no record or achievements to campaign with.
“Otherwise, instead of wasting public funds on a lazy, indecorous, and irresponsible attempt to smear the reputation of Governor Umar Ganduje of Kano State, they would have seized the fraudulently obtained opportunity of a digital billboard at the heart of the state’s capital to show the people of Edo State consequential matters like their achievements in office.
“It is nothing but hypocrisy and a lack of awareness, two traits that contributed to the failure of the Obaseki-administration, for the Governor to sanction such an irresponsible move when his own Commissioner and best friend, Osazee Osemwingie Ero, is still languishing in detention abroad since his arrest in France last year over credible allegations of money laundering.
“Obaseki is yet to tell Edo people the assignment Osazee Osemwingie Ero was carrying out for him in France before he was nabbed by the International Police with a reported sum of two million dollars.
“He is also yet to explain to the people of Edo State where he got the 15 billion naira he paid the PDP tax-collectors to facilitate his imposition as the party’s emergency-hour candidate.
“The fact of the matter remains that if Obaseki were to be a resident of Kano State today, he would have been arrested and swiftly prosecuted by Governor Ganduje’s Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, a state anti-corruption agency established to tackle corruption cases. It is no surprise, given the nature of Obaseki’s administration and sharp practices of both governor and appointees that such an agency is missing in Edo State.
“If Obaseki has nothing to show or tell Edo people beyond childish retorts and mudslinging, then he can hold his peace until September 19th when he is finally shown the exit door after four years of abject failure in office.”