Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has described All Progressives Congress stalwart, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the party’s former National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomole, as threats to Nigeria’s democracy.
Obaseki made these statements on ARISE TV, where he was a guest on The Morning Show.
According to Obaseki who recently won his re-election bid as governor on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party after crossing over from the APC, “Oshiomole and Tinubu try to overlord themselves over people that have constitutional authority.”
Obaseki was elected as governor under the banner of the APC four years ago with the support of Oshiomole, himself a former governor of the state. However, he fell out with his predecessor in office, who was hell bent in making sure he wasn’t re-elected.
Oshiomole and Tinubu vehemently campaigned against Obaseki, with the former instrumental in Obaseki’s disqualification from re-contesting on the platform of the APC, while former Lagos State governor, Tinubu, featured in a TV broadcast asking Edo indigenes to reject Obaseki, a few days to last Saturday’s election.
“Tinubu and Oshiomole are not constitutional actors. I was surprised when I was in the APC, that someone was described as leader. It is out of respect, but it does not give constitutional roles.”
While Governor Obaseki was ready to extend an olive branch to his opponent in the election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, he was reluctant in mending fences with Oshiomole.
“Like we say in Edo, everybody should maintain their lane,” he said.
“For us, the challenge with people like Oshiomhole and Tinubu is that except they change their standard and attitude, they pose a big danger to our democracy because they are extra constitutional players.
“They have constituted themselves into what they say they are without any constitutional responsibilities and try to overlord themselves over people who have constitutional authority,” Obaseki said.
Referring to Ize-Iyamu, he revealed, “Between us, there are no issues at all. The people who are with him have been very vicious and evil, and I will be surprised if they come and extend a hand.
“This is not the first time I’m contesting with him. We have a relationship. We cannot live a life of acrimony or hate,” he said of his vanquished opponent.
“Ize-Iyamu played his politics the way he knows how to and I did mine. I will be magnanimous if he comes through, we’ll have a conversation and there’s enough room for us to have the sort of conversation I’d want us to have. So for me, I don’t see a problem with Ize-Iyamu.