From Tony Osauzo, Benin
Senator Domingo Obende, who represented Edo North Senatorial district in the Seventh Senate, at the weekend, joined in condemnation of the call for the sale of some national assets to cushion the country’s current economic recession.
Fielding questions from journalists in Benin City, Senator Obende said “no nation sells its assets because of temporary recession.
“Our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has not taken a decision on that neither our government. Our assets are our strength.”
Obende also spoke on the victory of the APC in last Wednesday Governorship election in Edo State and said the people voted for the party because they love good things.
Senator Obende assured the opposition that Edo is one, said Obaseki would continue to build on the good works started by Governor Adams Oshiomhole.
“Godwin Obaseki is not coming to learn on the job, he is a practical person. He knows what the board room politics is all about. That is what Edo needs now.
“The APC agenda is about development. Oshiomhole has done a lot for the state, he is living behind a legacy that will be worth emulating.”
On how the APC overcame the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the polls, Obende said “PDP propaganda helped us to strategise to get what we wanted.”
Assessing the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies during the poll, he said, they both performed beyond expectation.
“INEC did well. There was a lot of improvement in the operation of the electoral umpire we have come to know lately.
“Voting materials arrived early to polling units and voting actually commenced on scheduled across the state.
“The only snag I noticed was that some persons were disenfranchised as a result of population in their polling units. My advise is that the commission should always deploy two Card Readers to units where the population is large.
“As for the security agencies, they were up in their game of ensuring peaceful elections and that was achieved perfectly, as we did not loose any life, and also did not noticed any violence during the election.
“All of of these go to show that the electoral body and security agencies can perform if only they have the people’s cooperation.”
He said Edo people willmiss Governor Adams Oshiomhole who will handd over to Obaseki on November 12. “We are going to miss his tenacity, ruggedness, straight forwardness in carrying people along and his zeal to confront challenges. All these are what we are going to miss in him.
“It is just that you cannot have a third term as a governor, we would have loved to have him back. We are going to tap from his wealth of experience,” he said.
Senator Obende described the PDP rejection of the election result as the party’s perception of what they thought happened, saying “they can contest it, but they must realise that it is the people that defeated them, and not the APC”
Meanwhile, chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Political Adviser to Edo State governor,
Charles Idahosa, at the weekend, called for the restructuring of the party in Edo State.
Appraising the just concluded governorship election which the APC won, Idahosa disclosed that there was internal sabotage against the party by some members who allegedly worked for opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He alleged that some party members betrayed the APC at the polls.
“We are going to restructure the APC because there was a lot of internal sabotage during the governorship election”, he said.
Speaking specifically on what transpired on election day in Uhunmwode local government area, Idahosa who is the party leader in area said some party members while pretending to be working for the APC, were working against its victory.
“I was very very sceptical, that was what saved the day. We are going to really look at the party because we suffered a lot of sabotage in this election, but thank God we won”, he said.
But another APC chieftain, Sen. Domingo Obende, has however disagreed on the call for restructuring of the APC in Edo, saying that he would not support such a move.
“What was important is that the party got victory at the last election. Whether there was internal sabotage, I don’t think that calls for the restructuring of a party”, he said.
Idahosa, while to PDP’s rejection of the results of the election announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), expressed disappointment, observing that the party’s rejection of the results was made when INEC was yet to conclude announcement of the election results.
“I am disappointed at PDP’s reaction to the election. When you beat a child, you can’t stop him from crying. Let them shed the tears”.
He said contrary to the party’s pre-election rating that it will win, the PDP was just making noise through propaganda and spreading falsehood about the APC.
He therefore, predicted that in four years time, Obaseki will win in all the 18 local government areas of the state because he is going to work hard like Oshiomhole to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people of the state.