By Tosin Olatokunbo
Will Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state bow to pressure on him by some stalwarts in the ruling APC to return to his former party after his landslide victory last Saturday against all odds? That, indeed, is the big poser on the lips of many Nigerians who thought the Edo helmsman was finally done with his former party considering the shabby manner he was frustrated out of the APC.
Recall that former Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state recently warned Governor Obaseki not to disappoint PDP by returning to APC, after the former rallied around him to be elected for a second term in office.
The APC was supposed to give Obaseki the benefit of first refusal for the APC governorship ticket, rather the slot was given to Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu who decamped from the PDP to APC with the backing of former National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole, just barely few months to the gubernatorial election.
Oshiomhole had vowed to stop the Obaseki, whom he helped to become governor from returning to government house, after the duo fell out over who controlled the soul of the party in the state.
Surprisingly, the same Ize-Iyamu has now begged Governor Obaseki to return to APC barely one week after the election.
Ize-iyamu made this appeal yesterday in a television broadcast, begging Obaseki to mount the ship of APC he once abandoned
Hear the defeated APC candidate “We are going to talk to everybody; we are going to bring everybody back. I want to salute my brother, the governor. I will like to appeal to him to return to the party. In every family, we have disagreement.
“Let it not be said that it was this disagreement that pushed him out. I made that mistake before and I have come to realise that it was a grievous error and I will not want him as a senior brother to make the same mistake.
“I will like to appeal to him to set aside his anger and come back. In APC, he is recognised as a leader and it would be difficult for him to be recognised as a leader in the new party he is going.”
The appeal came on the crest of visit by Governor Obaseki to Rivers state, where he thanked Governro Nyesom Wike for his support during the election.
Wike was the chairman of the PDP Election Campaign Council for the Edo election, and it remained unclear whether the Rivers helmsman will be able to prevail on Governor Obaseki to remain in APC, as serious pressure continue to mount on him from his former party to abandon the PDP.
Meanwhile, the magazine learnt from reliable sources in APC that the Presidency and some APC governors have started reaching out to Obaseki to re-join the party.
Recall that Governor Obaseki had, immediately after he was announced by the INEC as the winner, thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for providing the enabling atmosphere for him to triumph over his opponent.
Weeks before the governorship election, the governor had also boasted that many APC governors were still in support of his re-election to Edo Government House, despite his decampment to PDP.
Indeed, the next few weeks will determine whether Governor Obaseki will succumbed to pressure to abandon PDP who gave him the platform to be re-elected for another four years term.
