Two brothers are fighting for one position in Edo State. They belong to the same political party, the All progressives Congress (APC). They are men of excellence and honour. In their professions, they have made name. Godwin Obaseki, economist, banker and Chairman of Edo State Economic Team, wants to succeed Governor Adams Oshiomhole. His cousin, Don Pedro Obaseki, former university teacher, broadcaster and film maker, is also running. Neither of them is ready to step down. In the Obaseki family of Benin-Kingdom, there is sibling rivalry. When the two contenders visited Lagos, they spoke on their aspirations, plans for the Southsouth state, expectations about the shadow poll and the chance of their party at the governorship election. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU met them
Why do you want to govern Edo State?
I want to govern Edo State because I truly believe that the state is in the throes of a motor park democracy and I also believe that, for us to move the state forward, we must change the way things are done. I also truly believe that the time has come when we cannot allow ourselves to continue to play the ostrich. But, to change Edo State, the people must change their state of mind.
Elections are capital-intensive. Who is your godfather?
I don’t have a godfather; my ambition is being funded by the people of Edo State and my campaign billboards have my bank account number on them. So far, contributions have come from not less than 17,000 people and that is something quite different. It is a new way of doing things. I have been to so many countries, talking to Edo people in Diaspora because they are the single largest investors in the state as a bloc in terms of remittances back home. The difference between other aspirants and I is the package I have for Edo people. Even when some of them have made a plethora of promises, the question is: How do they intend to realise them and what is the difference between what they are offering and what we had had prior to now.
But, you are not the governor’s anointed candidate…
I want to reiterate this. Only God anoints. I am not rich in the interpretation of the billionaire space in Nigerian politics, but I am very wealthy. I am wealthy in the sense that I am wealthy in ideas and belief. So, I believe that I alone among the army of aspirants in the All Progressives Congress have what it takes to make the party win Edo State because the state is not an APC state. To say that Edo State is an APC State is to be economical with the political truth, but I can leverage on the successes of Governor Adams Oshiomhole to win the state for the APC. I call him the ‘Moses of our time’ because he had to fight Pharaoh. Edo political space before now was like living in Egypt but Oshiomhole’s coming took us across the Red Sea but I believe that I am the Joshua, who will lead the state to the Promised Land.
What is your plan for Edo, if elected as governor?
I have decided to do things in the familiar and I took “Edo” as my political message, ideology and mission. If you educate or employ a person, it comes under a larger umbrella, which is empowerment. So, ‘E’ in Edo stands for empowerment, ‘D’ stands for development whether human or infrastructural, while the ‘O’ stands for opportunities, and that is creating the enabling environment for businesses to thrive. Why did I decide to do it that way? As a little boy, who was crazy about the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), we recited the four cardinal points of the party. We knew what to hold the government to task for but that is absent in our political space today.
What is your reaction to the allegation that the delegates’ list may be tinkered with?
I was at a meeting with the other aspirants and the national leadership of the party made it clear that the rules of the game cannot be changed. The APC is different from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In the PDP, the governors are the political leaders of the party in their respective states, but in the APC, the state chairmen of the party are the political leaders. So, the primary election in Edo State is not going to be at the beck and call of the state government apparatus. It is the national headquarters of the party that would conduct the poll.
So, I am not scared as we were told during the meeting that nobody who is not a delegate as at the time of the last convention would be a delegate during the forthcoming primaries because the Edo governorship election is actually a postponed 2015 poll and as a result, new rules cannot apply.
It was also agreed that, if a delegate is dead, he can only be replaced at the next convention, which would not hold before the primaries. If the APC allows a free, fair and credible primary election; we will go to the field to ensure victory for the party in the main election despite whoever emerges the candidate. Nobody, no matter how big is greater than the corporate entity called Edo State. We are a different kind of people and anyone who takes us for granted is taking a big risk.
So, the governor cannot try that?
I want to say this so that the governor can be mindful of what he is doing. In 2015, out of the three supposed candidates of the governor in the senatorial election, two lost. Senator Francis Alimikhena won in Edo North by a slim margin. That does not show an invincible governor. Also, the days of money politics or what some people refer to as stomach infrastructure are over. President Muhammadu Buhari proved this in the last elections. If money determines who wins election, former President Goodluck Jonathan would have won that election. Edo people are tired, not tired of the party, but tired of the recycled and reshuffled ideologically bereft politicians. Those who are running for the governorship in the APC today, apart from one or two, are former members of the PDP while those running in the PDP are former APC/Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
What is your reaction to the endorsement of am aspirant by the governor; and the aspirant is stated to be your cousin?
The governor is not favouring anyone. He keeps saying that no man is God and that it is a game of one man, one vote. The governor is not a product of godfatherism. So, he won’t subscribe to that. I will defeat all the aspirants on the field.
Don’t you see your family losing out over your insistence to contest the primary against your cousin?
I want to make it clear that it was after due consultations with my corporate family that I declared my intention to run for the governorship of Edo State. My family, at a well-attended festival in our patriarch’s palace in Benin on September 9, 2015 endorsed my ambition. And my cousin, Uncle Godwin, happens to be my major supporter and I asked him to take me to Governor Oshiomhole because they are close. It was on the day (September 24) that he was supposed to take me to the governor that he told me that he was also running for the governorship. My family is not divided and this is not an election, it is a party nomination. If Uncle Godwin wins and he feels he needs my support, I will support him but I beg him to also support me if I win because I will need his support.
.....The Nation