By Ehi Ekhator
In this interview with NAIJA CENTER NEWS, Dr. Godwin Obaseki, a younger cousin to the governor election, Godwin Obaseki expressed his views concerning the way the Edo State governorship election was conducted, opened up on other things.
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It has been so difficult to contact you after the governorship election. What’s your take on the election?
I was disappointed not on the election itself but the way the election was handled. It was confounded and you know when in your ward they collate result and on the night the result is about to be announced, and for the first time in a long while in this country, INEC decided not to announce result until the next day, it has never happened.
The last one in Osun State, I was the head of the crew, everybody stayed all night, the announcement ended around 4am in the morning. It was open, transparent, all the cameras were there.
The one that shocked me most was Oredo in ward 2, one of the units. I am very aware that there was absolutely nothing that took place in the Unit and INEC canceled it and that was the unit that General Abe voted, Mr. Uroghigbe voted.
Edo State election for me was a shame, and I think the President, Muhammadu Buhari is much more than that and I truly believe the man is not what the APC is turning him out to be in terms of civility. In my mind God will prevail at the end of the day, my brother Godwin Obaseki was announced the winner but did they vote for him?
With the way the election turned out, what’s your next step?
I am on my way to Abuja now trying to face my business for a little bit because I have had quite a battering. My normal reaction is to say these people don’t deserve the outcome of the election, but I have taught about it over and over and I truly believe that Edo State could be salvaged, it doesn’t matter how long it could take. I truly believe there is more to us than meet the eyes. I am still very much with the PDP.
I pray that the truth is allowed to prevail at the end of the day. It was not the way I expected it to go but man proposes and God disposes. I don’t have regrets.
Now that PDP is heading for the tribunal, what’s your take?
If I were the one, I would have done the same thing. Let me be frank with you, it is a different thing if elections are conducted, you are beaten fair and square and then you are crying foul but, this is not the case. The case here is a vagrant disregard for the wishes of the people.
The truth of the matter is that people saw it. You must have seen videos taken by people on the street. By the time you know that as an Edo man, someone who has such a crowd ancestry, you’ll know inside your mind that this is not what God has designed for us. We are playing out the script of the devil; that is what was played out. In a situation where such a massively advertised, keenly contested gubernatorial campaign and a record turnout, the highest turnout in the history of voting in the state and you turned up a result that made a mockery of the turnout, the result did not even reflect the turnout. Election modus were not followed; they have made us ashamed of ourselves.
I am a firm believer of God’s will. I truly believe it was not the wish of God’s for the larger people of Edo State.
Now, what is the relationship between you and your brother?
He is my brother, he will remain my brother. I have nothing against him as a person. I have never had, I have never attacked him as a person. I have nothing against the person of the APC gubernatorial candidate, Godwin. I am not an unrepentant capitalist. My brother described himself in one of the forums as an unrepentant capitalist and that does not reflect me at all. When I hear some little minds are misinformed, I just laughed. In this whole campaign, I don’t think there was any time my family came out in mass to support Godwin Obaseki because it was me they endorsed. When he got his ticket, I was no longer in the party with him and people feel like I contested the primary with him, so you cannot fail an examination that you did not write. I truely believe after listening to both campaign, that pastor campaign best represents the way forward for me and my children and to a larger extension for the people of Edo State.
My stand has not altered at all, I don’t have anything against Godwin and I am still for Osagie Ize-Iyamu. I don’t want people to wish away this rape of our collective patrimony. I believe that if we lie down and do nothing, we will run into a huge problem; that is the old Nigerian proverbial way.
Do you think the PDP will win the tribunal?
Yes, if the evidences on the ground are taken into consideration. The judiciary has been under a lot of fire and I truly believe that it is time for them to rise above the fray and I think this is an opportunity for the judiciary as it well. It is time for them to redeem themselves and I am not scared of the tribunal at all. I think the tribunal may even be a wake-up call for the nation and I pray that God sees us through.
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