Edo Guber: ‘I Almost Abandoned Second Term Ambition’ - Obaseki Reveals After Winning PDP Primary

The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki on Thursday disclosed that he almost ditched his ambition of contesting for the second time to govern Edo State but for the support and encouragement from his friends and family which kept him going.

Obaseki, who recently defected after being screened out of the APC primary, polled a total of 1,952 votes to emerge the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the September 2020 governorship election in the state. Three other aspirants in the governorship race namely, Hon. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, Kenneth Imansuangbon and Gideon Ikhine, had announced their withdrawal from the race after much horse-trading to pave way for Obaseki.

The Election Committee Chairman, Senator Bala Mohammed and governor of Bauchi State, while declaring the result, gave the break down of the votes cast as follows, invalid votes - 72, total delegates - 2,234, accredited delegates - 2,202, actual delegates that voted in the indirect primaries - 2,020.

In his acceptance speech, Obaseki said, “With today’s election, we have demonstrated again that no mountain is too high to stop the aspiration of a people that have put their faith in God and that is called by God to make life better for the greater majority of her people.

“I must admit that there was a time in this struggle when as a mere mortal, I was almost tempted to quit but I thank God for my family, friends, my colleagues' governors, my brothers, of course.

“Let me use this opportunity to thank the chairman of the PDP governor’s forum, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto State and other colleagues, particularly, Governor Wike of Rivers State and others who have encouraged me to move on.

“My desire to improve the quality of lives of Edo people has been my daily driving force and also my greatest incentive.”

The Governor promised to be magnanimous in victory but will always remember that PDP as a party provided him with shelter when he was being drenched by the rain.

“I want to thank those who are leaders of our great party who have provided us with shelter under that large umbrella in the Sun when we were pushed out by the broom.

“We are actually grateful to those who emphatically told me Governor Goodwin Obaseki anywhere you go, we will follow. That was an encouragement.

“I was humbled by this such love and I am challenged by it to confront any man-made barriers that will stand in our way to progress in Edo State.

“We could not have overcome our political adversaries without prayers and guardians of our traditional rulers, religion and all Edo people particularly, our father, the Oba of Benin Kingdom.

“With your continued support, we will make Edo greater than we met it. As children of God, we will be magnanimous in victory but we will not forget that when the rain was beating us, PDP provided us with umbrella,” he said.

The Governor urged the people of the state to keep faith with him as he is convinced along with his team that the state can be great again if everyone works together, adding that much achievements have been made and that greater ones are still possible in the years to come.

“Our team is convinced about this and have faith in our people as they have us remain unshaken.

“We have made remarkable improvement in security, job creation among others and we are certain to do more in the coming years.

“I salute all Edo people at home and abroad as well as our friends from other cities but certainly that a better Edo State is possible if we are allowed to lead and not the godfathers to lead.

“I implore you to keep faith and to inform you of the tasks ahead,” said Obaseki, who has been locked in face-off with his predecessor and former national chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole.