By Adesina Soyooye
If Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, loses the September 19 election, his first gift may not be a consoling one.
It would be a Court case.
The All Progressives Congress, APC, Lagos State chapter, says the party and its leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, would drag Obaseki to court for alleged libel against them.
In the heat of the campaign for the September 19 Governorship election, the APC, the PDP, and their supporters, have been throwing one allegation or the other at one another.
On Tuesday, the PDP and its candidate, Governor Godwin Obaseki, in response to a video message to the Edo electorate, by Tinubu, had alleged that Tinubu plans to buy the election with the sum of N300million.
In the video, which has since gone viral, Tinubu urged Edo people to rehect Obaseki for “not being a democrat.” Obaseki was not involved in the fight for democracy, he said. He also called him a dictator.
The video, however, earned Tinubu a strong rebuke from the Governor, and a former National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
Oyegun, a former two-time Governor of the state, urged the people to ignore any external influence, and vote their conscience. He reminded them that Obaseki suffered indignity, and was forced to leave the APC, because he stood by the people and protected their pride.
And, in a release titled:
You can’t extend your political empire to Edo, Obaseki told Tinubu Edo is not Lagos, and that it is not possible for him to extend his political empire to the state.
Speaking through Crusoe Osagie, his Special Adviser on Media, in a statement on Tuesday, Obaseki said Edo voters would end political godfatherism on September 19.
He said:
“Our attention has been drawn to a television broadcast in which a former Lagos State Governor and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his quest to extend his political dominance and empire to Edo State, decided to take over the role of Edo people to choose through the ballot who to govern them for the next four years.
“It has become obvious that the spirited fight which Edo people have put up against godfatherism has sent tremors beyond the shores of Edo to the likes of Tinubu who, has for years, sustained a stranglehold on Lagos and other states in South Western Nigeria, hence this desperate, last ditch effort to rescue the unproductive political instrument, now popularly referred to as godfatherism, with which he has feathered his nest and built his political empire at the expense of the people.
“Tinubu knows clearly that come September 19, when godfatherism would have been dismantled in Edo State, the people of Lagos may just have found the recipe and formula for removing the choke-hold placed on their collective destinies for decades by Tinubu, hence the inciting television broadcast.
“He should take note that Edo people do not yield their will, liberty and power of choice to oppressive figures because they are perceived to have economic and political means.
“Like one of the great sons of Edo, former Governor and former National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, recently said, our people do not give in to ‘primitive loyalties.’
“We always chase noble causes and a little study of our history, should show Tinubu the indomitable spirit of the Edo person.”
Earlier, both the PDP and Obaseki had alleged that Tinubu is allegedly planning to purchase the result with the sum of N300m.
But the APC Lagos, immediately jumped to Tinubu’s defence, saying it would sue Obaseki for alleged slander against Tinubu “once he loses the election, and subsequently, his immunity.”
Its Chairman, Alhaji Tunde Balogun, in a statement accused Obaseki of being the architect of his misfortune.
Balogun: “The latest untruth of the PDP and Obaseki is the evil lie that the All Progressives Congress, APC, and our National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, plan to rig the election, and buying votes with N300 million, allegedly polled from Local Councils in Lagos State.
“His allegation is a pure malicious lie, and after he loses his immunity as Governor, he will be asked to pay for this slander.”
The election has drawn attention from across Nigeria and the International Community because of the tension and violence it has, so far, generated.
Both candidates, on Tuesday, signed a peace agreement, initiated by the former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s Peace Committee, which has the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Mathew Kukah as a member.
But not many people believe the peace agreement would have any effect. Before this, the revered Oba of Benin, Ewuare 11, had held a meeting with both parties, and asked them to behave, and give peace a chance. They have, hardly, done that.
