Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki, has announced that his former party members, Adams Oshiomhole and Bola Tinubu constitute clear and present danger to the country’s democracy. Tinubu and Oshiomhole were former governors of Lagos and Edo states respectively.
Oshiomhole, was particularly influential in Obaseki’s 2016 victory over the man who again was his nemesis in 2020, Osagie Ize-Iyamu.
In the build up to the 2020 race however, the duo of Obaseki and Oshiomhole had a public disagreement and launched vitriolic attacks aimed at scuttling each other’s interests. Oshiomhole would throw his weight behind Osagie Ize-Iyamu who became APC’s flag bearer in last Saturday’s race.
On his own part, the former Lagos governor, Tinubu, made a public broadcast asking the people of Edo to vote out Obaseki, pointing that he does not respect democratic norms.
Obaseki however won the poll, beating Ize-Iyamu with a clear margin of 84,336 votes.
The governor was on ARISE TV on Tuesday morning to speak about his victory and plans going forward. Obaseki said if nothing is done to clip the wings of Tinubu and Oshiomhole, they will destroy the country’s democracy.
According to the governor, “the challenge with people like Oshiomhole and Ahmed Tinubu is that they if they do not accept and change their style and attitude, they pose a big danger to our democracy because they are extra-constitutional players,” Obaseki said.
“They constituted themselves into what they say they are without any constitutional responsibilities and try to overlord themselves over people who have constitutional authority and if we allow them to continue it will destroy our democracy.”
The governor styled his victory as the triumph of the people over godfathers and many commentators including former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, have described his victory as a new epoch in the country’s democracy.
