Obaseki’s historic victory, lesson for godfathers ― PDP

In the euphoria of the victory of its candidate in the Edo State gubernatorial election, Governor Godwin Obaseki, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the outcome of the poll should serve as a lesson to godfathers that powers belongs not to them but to God.

In its reaction to the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the party also admonished President Muhammadu Buhari to continue in the spirit of ensuring the conduct of free, fair and credible elections in the country.

The party praised the disposition of the electoral umpire and security agencies in providing conducive environment for the electorate to perform their franchise and their votes count.

“To the ‘political godfathers,’this election must serve as a loud lesson that power belongs only to God, which He confers through the people; and that no matter how an individual strives to lord it over others, the will of God, through the people, will always prevail,” Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary, said at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday.

He congratulated the people of Edo State on the re-election of “their choice leader,” Governor Obaseki, on the platform of our party.

He added: “This victory, as won by the people, is historic and serves as a strong, viable and unambiguous lesson to leaders.

“Our party celebrates the resilience and courage exhibited by the people of Edo State in resisting the antics of the enemies of democracy, who, as vote buyers, patrons of lions and tigers, as well as beguilers, attempted to take over the political space of Edo State.

“We rejoice with the Edo people for helping to reset the political culture of our nation by casting their votes, protecting the votes, ensuring that their votes counted and following it, “bumper-to-bumper”, to the final point of declaration.

“Our party commends traditional institutions, faith-based organisations, youth groups, market women, artisans, community associations, trade unions, traditional leaders and other stakeholders in Edo state for standing up for their state during her critical moments.

“On account of the reverberation of this victory across the length and breadth of our country, the PDP implores President Muhammadu Buhari to continue in this newfound spirit of ensuring that the people are allowed to freely choose their leaders at all elections.

“Our party states this in our belief that in spite of his administration’s failure in other spheres of life as well as in previous elections if Mr President can continue to toe this new line of allowing for electoral uprightness, history will be beckoned to be kind to him.”

On INEC, the party spokesman said the PDP noted the efforts of the commission under Prof Yakubu Mahmood in ensuring that Edo election was conducted in a manner that was largely adjudged to be free, fair, transparent and credible.

He further said: “Nigerians hope that what we have witnessed in Edo State will not be an off-season procedure in the commission. We demand that this credible process applies to all our elections.

“The PDP applauds the use of the virtual portal by INEC to upload results directly from the polling unit, the base of our election, which made it impossible for electoral violators to hijack this electoral process.

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“It is our hope in the PDP that this newfound image of INEC will gather more thresholds in future elections, particularly the October 10, 2020, Ondo governorship election.

“We, however, call on INEC to strengthen its processes, particularly in the area of card readers, to forestall the type of delays witnessed in the accreditation of voters.

“Our party also notes the improvement in the activities of our security agencies compared to past elections. We hope that our security organs will continue in this stead in future elections.

“The Edo election has indeed shown that credible elections are possible in our country if we play by the rules.

“Furthermore, the PDP applauds the international community for their keen observation of our electoral processes as well as profiling of those who are bent on undermining our democracy and making free and fair elections appear impossible in Nigeria.

“We urge the international community and all lovers of democracy not to relent in providing necessary advisory to our leaders on the conduct of our elections.

“The PDP restates our support for the actions taken so far by the US and UK in restricting electoral violators from visiting their countries and we urge them not to restrain on further sanctions against such individuals for their sinister roles in our elections.

“Our party also appreciates the Chairman of our National Campaign Council, Governor Nyesom Wike, for providing the right leadership that led to this victory in Edo State. We commend the Chairman of PDP Governors Forum, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the Chairman of the South-South PDP Governors Forum, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as well as all our governors, national assembly caucus, elders, leaders, critical stakeholders and teeming members of our party for their efforts in this election.

“The PDP appreciates the candidate of the APC, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, whose participation in this election helped to deepen our democracy and enabled the people to make their choice. We invite him, in the spirit of sportsmanship, to congratulate his brother, Governor Godwin Obaseki, and join him in the onerous task of leadership in the general interest of all Edo people.

“Furthermore, our party thanks to the media, the civil society groups and all Nigerians across the board, for showing more than a passing interest in ensuring that the wish of the people of Edo State for a credible and transparent election prevailed. We do not take your efforts in this regard for granted.”

The PDP assured of a continuous partnership with all critical stakeholders in the collective desire to recreate a nation that will continue to be our pride.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE