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Tag: Godwin Obaseki

  • PDP candidate Ize-Iyamu gets more adoptions

    PDP candidate Ize-Iyamu gets more adoptions

    The Edo State League of Professionals, non-Governmental Organization, at its meeting held on recently Abuja, was briefed by members on the upcoming gubernatorial election in Edo State.

    The League congratulated all the political parties that have fielded candidates for the gubernatorial election which have set the stage for a keen contest. It also availed the people of Edo State the opportunity to freely choose the candidate of their choice.

    The League also noted the preparations underway by INEC to conduct a free and fair election acceptable to the electorates. The League, therefore, encourage INEC to remain unbiased and avoid anything that is capable of derailing the process.

    The League recalled how development have eluded Edo State as a result of lack of selfless and visionary leaders. The League also noted the lack of political consciousness among the best brains in the state, thereby leaving the stage for self-centered politicians to ruin our dear state.

    The League took note of the two leading gubernatorial candidates in the upcoming gubernatorial election; Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the PDP and Mr. Godwin Obaseki of the APC. Both candidates were painstakingly analyzed and evaluated, taking into consideration whose victory at the poll will bring the much expected development to our state.

    The League also underscored the imperative of supporting a candidate who is accessible; will not be trapped in the old patterns of politics of misrepresentation and distortion; will close the door on the old economics that has written off the poor and left the Civil Servants poorer and less secure which the PDP gubernatorial candidate epitomized. Therefore, the League unanimously adopted the PDP gubernatorial candidate, Pastor Ize-Iyamu as the candidate of its choice to be the next Governor of Edo State. He is a candidate who offers a strategy for prosperity and lit a spark of hope amid the state of despair as clearly exemplified in his manifestos’ document called the “SIMPLE AGENDA”.

    The League call on all the good people of Edo state to support and vote overwhelmingly for the PDP to ensure Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s victory in the coming election.

    In another development, the Ebelle Development Union, Port Harcourt Branch under the Chairmanship of Mr. Patrick Ebhoma, has also adopted the PDP candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu as its candidate to be voted and supported for the Edo State gubernatorial election scheduled for September 10th.

    Again after fruitful interactions between Edo State League of Professionals and the Akoko-Edo Patriots on August 20th in Benin-City, the later also adopted Ize-Iyamu as its gubernatorial Candidate to be voted as the next Governor of Edo State.

  • INEC clears 19 for Edo governorship poll

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday cleared Osagie Ize-Iyamu of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and 18 other candidates to participate in the September 10 governorship election in Edo State.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr. Godwin Obaseki of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Amos Areloegbe of the Labour Party (LP) and Oronsaye Richard of Mega Progressive Peoples Party (MPPP) were also cleared for the election.

    The commission released the list of political parties and candidates eligible  for the election on Thursday.

    INEC said the decision to clear PDP’s Ize-Iyamu for the poll was based on a court order.

    Other candidates listed for the governorship election were – Mr. Ishaka Ofemile (Action Alliance), Mr. Andrew Igewmoh (Advanced Congress of Democrats), Mr. Cosmos Irabor (Allied Congress Party of Nigeria), Onaiwu Osaro (All Progressives Grand Alliance), Mr. David Okoror (Citizens Popular Party), Mr. Tobi Adeniyi (Independent Democrats), Thompson Osadolor (KOWA Party), Peters Omoragbon (National Conscience Party) and Akhalamhe Amiemenoghena (People for Democratic Change).

    Mr. Thomas Sadoh (Progressive People Alliance), Mrs. Agol Ebun (Peoples Party of Nigeria), Omorogieva Gbajumo (Social Democratic Party), Shadrach Efogie (United Progressive Party) and Nurudeen Inwanefero (Young Democratic Party) completed the list.

     

  • Emerhor predicts landslide victory for apc, Godwin Obaseki

    Emerhor predicts landslide victory for apc, Godwin Obaseki

    A Delta state All Progressives Congress  Leader, Olorogun Otega Emerhor has described governor Adams Oshiomole as a proactive leader and astute politician who over the years exhibited uncommon pedigree in governance.

    He said the massive infrastructural development and socioeconomic advancement in the state is the reason  why the good people of Edo State assured the APC of their massive votes for Godwin Obaseki and the party come September 10 the, this year.

    The APC chieftain and Vice Chairman of Standard Group asserted that Godwin Obaseki parades intimidating credentials and excellent wealth of experience as board room expert and economist who over the years gain national and global recognition in his professional career.

    Emerhor opined that Edo is strategic to Delta State politically which is why all hands are now on deck between the two states party structures to work together extensively towards the consolidation of APC stronghold in Edo and strategic alliances for APC to take over Delta State in 2019.

    He further disclosed that party members registration will commence next week in Delta State to enlarge the political family in preparation for the final collapse of PDP in the state, come 2019.

    The campaign flag off venue was on Saturday overflow of heavyweight politicians from across the country.

    Victory he said is sure for APC and Godwin Obaseki come September 2016.

  • APC NWC endorses Obaseki’s candidacy

    APC NWC endorses Obaseki’s candidacy

    …Oyegun calls for unity ahead of September election

    The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday put to rest the controversy surrounding last month’s governorship primary in Edo state when it endorsed the candidacy of Godwin Obaseki as the party’s flag bearer in the September 10 governorship election in the state.

    The party said the declared that even though there were issues raised by some of the aspirants after the conduct of the primary, they were not compelling enough to warrant a cancellation of the primary and called for greater unity within the party to ensure a landslide victory in the election.

    Congratulating Obaseki for his emergence as the party candidate, National chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun called on Party stakeholders to close ranks and support the candidature of Mr. Godwin Obaseki in the lead-up to the forthcoming Edo State Governorship elections.

    He also congratulated the Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari-led seven-member Election Committee for successfully conducting a very transparent, free, fair and credible governorship primaries in Edo State, while thanking the Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele-led three-member Edo State governorship Election Appeal Committee for successfully carrying out its assignment and submitting a report.

    He said “As the Party prepares for the September 10, 2016 governorship election in Edo State, I call on all aspirants, party leaders, stakeholders and teeming members of our great Party to close ranks and unite as a strong political fighting force behind the candidature of Mr. Godwin Obaseki for a landslide victory at the forthcoming Edo State governorship election.

    “The request by the aspirants was that the Edo State APC governorship election primaries should be transparent, free, fair and credible. This, the Party achieved creditably during the primaries. Going forward, we should avoid triumphalist actions and avoid creating new stresses within the Party. We should all seek to reunify the Party to face the September 10, 2016 governorship election.”

    In its report to the National Working Committee, the Appeals Committee said the Edo State 2016 APC Governorship primaries were valid pointing out that while not dismissing the seriousness of the allegations and claims of the Petitioners, the issues raised were not compelling as to warrant the cancellation of the Primary Election.

    The report called on all APC stakeholders in Edo State to put the Party’s interest over and above personal interests in ensuring a speedy and amicable reconciliation and recommended that the leadership of the party should step up diplomacy in trying to reconcile stakeholders in Edo State.

    The Committee also recommended that a high-powered committee be set up by the Party to reach out and mediate between the Edo State Governor, His Excellency, Adams Oshiomhole and all aspirants who participated in the Primary election.

  • Edo: APC governorship aspirants back Obaseki

    Edo: APC governorship aspirants back Obaseki

    The aggrieved Edo State governorship aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have all thrown their weight behind the successful candidate at the primary election, Godwin Obaseki.

    This was disclosed by some of the aspirants at the end of a meeting with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal and other APC leaders on Thursday night.

    The aspirants said they decided to close ranks and support Obaseki in order not to lose the only South South state controlled by the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the September governorship election.

    Speaking with journalists at the end of the meeting, one of the candidates, Blessing Agbomhere, said: “I was very critical of the process before the elections and anybody will attest to the fact that I was a very vibrant aspirant during the contest. But you see, I am a man who is loyal to the party and this administration run by the APC.

    “I agree that Obaseki has won and as a member of the party, I will do everything possible to support him to ensure APC wins Edo State and why I must make that sacrifice is the peculiar nature of Edo State.

    “It is the only APC state in the Niger Delta and I believe we cannot afford to let PDP take over Edo State looking at the threat this administration is getting from the Niger Delta. Thus as one of the supporters of President Buhari, I don’t have any option but to work with my party and Obaseki to emerge as governor of Edo come September 10.

    “I am fully in support of him, I will work for him and promote him. He is our candidate and I don’t want to talk about the past. I am a man of few words and I want to talk about the reality, the reality is that Obaseki is our candidate.”

    Another aspirant, Peter Esele, a former President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), said, “It’s a family meeting, the process is ongoing.

    APC Deputy National Chairman (South), Segun Oni, said: “It’s a family meeting, you can see the smile on everybody’s face. Don’t call anybody aggrieved. We can have disagreement as members of the same family and we will resolve our disagreement and work together.”

     

    He said they were still in the process of resolving all disagreement arising from the primary election.

  • I don’t have case with EFCC – Obaseki

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has dismissed reports in some social media that he was under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Obaseki said he has never been involved in any fraudulent activity.

    In a chat with journalists in Benin City, Obaseki, said issues raised by the late Humphrey Idisi family against a German firm have nothing to do with him.

    The APC governorship candidate said he is a shareholder of the company.

    “I don’t have a case with the EFCC. I am on the board of several companies. This is a German company that owns rig in Nigeria. They have a partner who died many years ago and unfortunately, his estate has not been properly managed.

    “His other businesses have gone bankrupt. The company saw a petition by some of the children claiming that the company was owing their father.

    “There was an agreement that showed that the company paid everything due to the man. The family has been having quarrels and internal issues.

    “There has also been some scam. If somebody is owing you, why go to the EFCC? There is a civil process to do so. It has nothing to do with me. I didn’t manage the company. I am just a shareholder and on the board of the company. I didn’t take money from anybody. I have never stolen, I have never taken anybody’s money before.”

  • Edo: Ogiemwonyi, Imasuagbon reject APC primaries’ results

    Two governorship aspirants of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Engr. Chris Ogiemwonyi and Barr. Kenneth Imasuagbon have rejected the outcome of the party primaries held last Saturday.

    Mr. Godwin Obaseki won the primaries after polling 1,618 votes.

    Imasuagbon garnered 247 votes, while Ogiemwonyi got137.

    They both stormed out of the stadium before the counting of votes was concluded.

    Speaking at a joint press briefing in Benin City, both aspirants said Obaseki never won the primaries.

    They said the figures recorded by Obaseki were electronically generated and not the true reflection of the voting pattern.

  • Edo APC Primary: Obaseki meets Odubu

    … I will not leave APC- Deputy governor

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has started a reconciliation move ahead of the September 10 Governorship election in the state.

    Obaseki, in company of Barr. Osarodion Ogie, the Director General of Godwin Obaseki Campaign Organization and some APC leaders in the state, visited the private home of Dr. Pius Odubu on Sunday evening, for a peace meeting.

    At the meeting, the deputy governor told Obaseki and the party leaders present that nobody should contemplate or think of him leaving the party.

    Odubu said as a true party man, he is ever ready to work for the party and its candidate come September 10.

    The deputy governor, who came second in Saturday’s primary, said what is paramount now is to ensure victory for the party and its candidate in the governorship election.

    Odubu, however, advice Obaseki and the party leaders to quickly move to reconcile aggrieved party members, especially the “victimized ones.”

     

  • Obaseki wins Edo APC governorship primaries

    Obaseki wins Edo APC governorship primaries

    Chairman of Edo State Economic Team, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has emerged the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress in Edo State.

    Mr. Obaseki polled 1,608 to defeat incumbent Deputy Governor, Dr. Pius Odubu who polled 471 votes.

    Scores by other aspirants are Charles Airhiavbere got 11 votes, Blessing Agbomhere secured five votes, Prof. Ebegue Amadasun had eight votes, Emmanuel Arigbe-Osula garnered 10 votes, Austin Emuan got seven votes.

    Others are Peter Esele who secured eight votes, Barr. Kenneth Imasuagbon popularly known as Rice Man got 247 votes, Chris Ogiemwonyi polled 137, Prof Oserheimen Osunbor garnered nine votes and Tina Agbarha got three votes.

    The primaries which was peaceful was held at the Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia stadium.

    Voting began at about 6pm and ended at 10:50pm.

    A A total of 2582 delegates were accredited to vote in the governorship primaries of the All Progressive Congress in Edo State.

    These are the number of persons that presented themselves for accreditation out of a 2771 names on the delegate list.

    Former lawmaker, Hon Razak Bello-Osagie described the party primaries as a show of the party’s democratic values.

    He said, “This is internal democracy of the party. So, I do not expect, quite naturally, any rancorous situation. Imaginary boundaries within the party should be removed so that we can have a formidable platform for the general elections. I do not see any reason we should be decipating energies on those things that will not reinforce the integrity of what we represent as change agents.

    “We need a candidate whose activities are predicated on vision, purpose, integrity, leadership and service. It is a family affair, so I expect that the process will go on peacefully to the glory God Almighty and to the benefit of humanity.

    Agbomehere had earlier said he would accept the outcome of the primaries as a loyal partyman that supports unity of the party.

    Hon Philip Shaibu representing Estako Federal Constituency said, “That is how I see Obaseki, as one person that will take such top decisions and will continue with the infrastructural development that the governor has laid.”

  • Why I’m candidate to beat, by Godwin Obaseki

    Why I’m candidate to beat, by Godwin Obaseki

    How did you become the Chairman of the Edo State Economic Team under Governor Adams Oshiomhole?

    Certainly I was among the first and I will say that I paid to serve. Secondly, I thought that I would just come in and help organise things and go back to what I was doing. But, as the Chairman of the Economic Team, I realised that what we had anticipated that existed in government did not exist. I had on my instinct invited people to come and help the government to take off, but I then realised that we cannot be talking about an economic policy or running an economy when there was no engine to drive the economy. So, for me, I realised that it was much deeper. So, I had to set up the Economic Team and institutionalised it and ensured that it was properly resourced to now support the Comrade’s effort.

    My aim at that point was not to become a political appointee. So, to that extent, I didn’t feel that I had to be at the front front. I was just there to support and help the Comrade Governor achieve the goals he had set out. And I felt that I would be more effective if I was apolitical. We looked at decisions and issues dispassionately and the truth is that within the first two, three years, I had no interest in politics. I didn’t see myself dealing with the intrigues, subterfuge and others. It was during Governor Oshiomhole’s re-election that I understood and appreciated that one can fix the bureaucracy, but it is beyond that because if you don’t also fix the politics, nothing will abide.

    Is your governorship ambition payback time?

    It is not payback because the question I had always asked after the governor’s re-election is: now that he is in the second and last term, what happens after him? The thought was always there; who will continue with what we started? But, even if it was there, it wasn’t something that I pursued strongly because I didn’t see how I could even do that; the energy and time. If you think about Nigeria’s politics before the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as President, you got to have a thick skin to be able to fight. And, in any case, since I didn’t have that political background and history, it wasn’t something I thought about doing initially.

    But, after Buhari succeeded despite all odds, I said it is possible. That gave me the perspective of the ability of an outsider to come in and take over power. More importantly, I looked around and said we’ve been here together in the last seven years; I cannot absolve myself of any key policy that was made. And I said to myself, because the future is going to be more challenging than where we are coming from, we run a huge risk of losing the gains of what we have accomplished.

    What is your chance of getting the ticket at the primary?

    The truth is that after 16 weeks, I am the person to beat. A lot of political actors have failed to realise that the political environment has changed drastically; that the current economic reality is going to affect our politics more than we understand at the surface. The thinking of most of them is let’s just grab power, once we are in Government House, everything will fall in place. But, I say that it is beyond that.

    Being in Government House does not make things happen. You have to possess the capability. With technology and improvement in our electoral process, people will now determine who governs them; people will now matter in the political process. Having political structure alone will not in itself deliver political power.

    Many have observed that those worked for Oshiomhole’s emergence are not with you. Who are your supporters?

    First, Oshiomhole delivered himself. If he had not restored governance and built the infrastructure that he did. If he has not gotten the confidence of the people, nobody would have been able to perform any magic. People voted, and that’s the point I am making. Gone are the days when politicians think that the people don’t matter; when a few political elite will gather and say this is how we want it; when you can just carry the ballot boxes and fill in result sheets.

    A lot of political actors just believe that there is a structure and system. So, they don’t need to work. I have gone round the 18 local government areas in the state. As I speak, I am going ward to ward. I have done 30 wards in the last two weeks and I am going to go round all the 192 wards. Somebody said something in one of the wards. He said: ‘But they said this man was imposed on the party but he is the only one that we are seeing. We don’t see those who were not imposed.’

    Whose credibility will work for you; yours or that of Oshiomhole?

    I don’t see the difference because I have been part of what we built in the last seven years. I cannot distance myself from any major policy of Governor Oshiomhole. I can only extend and improve on what he has done and we did it on the platform of our party, the APC. So, there is no difference as far as I am concerned.