Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, one of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirants for the party’s June 22 direct primaries, has described the exit of Governor Godwin Obaseki from the party as a big relief to the leaders and supporters of the party, and has created the surest route to its victory.
According to Ize-Iyamu, Obaseki had been trying to deflect from his failures by mischaracterising the situation, “but, we will force him to run on his records.”
The aspirant, who made the assertion while speaking in Benin City on Saturday, said the governor made people to believe that he exited the party with his political office holders, including local government chairmen, thinking that it would impact negatively on the APC in the election which, he said was very far from the truth.
“Interestingly, only a handful of people are exiting the party with the governor. The majority of party members and leaders in Edo State are happy to see his back because he has been a major barrier to achieving peace and unity.
“He was going about suspending people, even local council officials, for not supporting him or adopting his combative stance. All of these people are excited he is out, and his voluntary exit has given room for talks and fence-mending in a conducive atmosphere.
“Therefore, I do not think it is going to have any negative impact at all. On the contrary, it has helped the party to sharpen its focus, put its house together, and rally loyal and committed members ahead of the election.
“Let me make it clear that the disqualification of Governor Godwin Obaseki had nothing to do with my entrance or aspiration to represent the party in the election.
“He was disqualified because the Screening Committee of the APC, led by Professor Jonathan Ayuba, could not reconcile the inconsistencies in his academic credentials.
“Even, he did not appear able to. We were all witnesses to how a similar situation cost the party dearly in Bayelsa State, and as they say, once bitten, twice shy.
“The leadership of the party learnt from the situation and insisted on a painstaking, objective screening of aspirants without any form of bias or prejudice.
“We reasonably were not willing to take risks, not the least because of a man who was neck-deep in anti-party activities, unpopular in the state, and nearly jeopardized the status of the party with his incompetence and intolerance.
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“I had, and still have, no problems going up against Godwin Obaseki.
“On the contrary, he has been the one running away from a fair contest. Everyone saw what happened in December 2019 when the Edo state chapter of the APC organised a rally to welcome me back ceremoniously.
“You saw how Governor Obaseki abused the powers of his office, passed emergency laws banning rallies and other legal gatherings, and deployed both security agents and thugs to deny our members and followers access to the event. He tried to block my return because he was afraid of me and my followers”.
On the primaries, Ize-Iyamu said: “I am relaxed and confident. My campaign organisation has worked hard to engage and convince party members across the entire state to support my bid to represent the party in the governorship election in September and we have made tremendous progress.
“Fortunately for us, we have a lot of party leaders and members across the 192 wards who have not only endorsed my candidacy, but have also contributed to our effort through various means because they believe in me and know I can deliver on what I say.
“That has instilled a good level of confidence as we approach the election. I am in high spirits and hopeful of a victorious outcome.”
On whether he envisaged any stiff opposition, having emerged as the party’s consensus candidate before now, he declared, “Screening Committee gave the nod to three aspirants, Dr. Pius Odubu, Mr. Osaro Obazee, and myself, to contest in the primary election.
“Naturally, because only one candidate can emerge at the end of the day, we are all making our case to members of the party, though we share the same goal of ensuring that our party, the APC, wins in September election.
“Luckily, Mr. Osaro Obazee has stepped down and declared support for me ahead of the primary election. I am grateful to him because his endorsement, added to the many others we have received recently, are great boosts and will definitely make a difference.
“Ultimately, challenge or not, right now in the APC, we are united and focused, and I am hopeful that this will not change irrespective of the outcome on June 22. We will continue collaborations and collective actions premised on mutual respect and complete devotion to the will of the people through party supremacy.”
