By Innocent Anaba & Ozioruva Aliu
THE newly sworn-in deputy governor of Edo State, Godwin Omobayo, has said his appointment would serve as a boost for the people of Akoko-Edo Local Government Area to vote massively for the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr Asue Ighodalo.
He stated this in an interview on a national television monitored in Benin City where he said he had already keyed into the developmental plans of Governor Godwin Obaseki, which he met on ground. Omobayo said his appointment was a good decision by Obaseki at the right time.
His words: “Edo State was created in 1991 and Akoko-Edo has not had its fair share of appointments into high political levels except statutory ones like House of Assembly, commissioner and all of that. It was in 2016 when the governor emerged for his first term that we had the Chief of Staff and that has been the best shot.
“So, the people of Akoko-Edo are very grateful to the governor and they are grateful to the Almighty God and for them it is a pro-mass victory, they are so excited that all of this non-inclusiveness will be put to rest. It doesn’t matter whether it is a few months to the end of the administration they are not bothered about that, they just want to compensate for subsequent elections and they are saying that they are going to vote for Governor Obaseki’s candidate.
“I already met a plan on the ground and all I need is to flow along with it. For instance, the government is done with the Benin masterplan, we are working on Edo Central and Edo North masterplan and I happen to be critical in that design even before now.
“For Edo North, we have a lot of natural resources and we have illegal people coming to mine them thus posing environmental hazards. We are incorporating the GIS system so that all of that will be captured and more importantly is to deliver our candidate for the September 2024 election. I am sure that with what the governor has done for our people now, we will get more than 80 per cent of votes from Akoko-Edo.”
Obaseki using place holder to woo Akoko-Edo votes
However, the President of Akoko-Edo Development Union, Segun Amode, has said the appointment of Omobayo as deputy governor was a mere placeholder, which would not give Akoko-Edo and Edo North any developmental value in the remaining months of Governor Obaseki’s administration.
Amode said the people of Akoko-Edo would not celebrate the appointment of Omobayo because Obaseki was only using it to seek votes from Akoko-Edo in the September 2024 governorship election.
His words: “Obaseki may have been tired of using roads to deceive Akoko-Edo people each election season. In every election period, the governor will award our roads and bring bulldozers to the sites. After the elections, we will not see the bulldozers again until after four years. Now he is using another style by appointing our son for a five-month tenure as deputy governor.
“He knows our people are waiting for him to ask about the roads he awarded eight years and four years ago. Our schools do not have teachers as we speak. Many of us are the ones employing and paying teachers in our schools in Akoko-Edo just to sustain the education of our children.”
He added that Omobayo would only be deputy governor until November this year, which will not bring anything to Akoko-Edo or Edo North.
Source: Vanguard
