GODWIN Obaseki, the Governor of Edo State has told the Nigeria President, Muhammadu Buhari that he would not return to the All Progressive Congress (APC) after his electoral success in the last Saturday governorship election.
Obaseki said this during his thank-you visit to President Buhari at the Presidential Villa on Friday.
“I couldn’t have contested on a party, won on that party’s platform, and then considered moving to another party,” he said.
According to the governor, returning to the APC would not be the right thing to do as he contested and won under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
“It’s not a good thing to do, it’s not the right thing to do and I’m sure you will not encourage me to do that,” he added.
During the visit, Obaseki was accompanied by Betsy, his wife, Philip Shaibu, the Deputy Governor of Edo State, and some members of his cabinet.
Obaseki won his first term election as the governor of the state under the platform of the APC in 2016 but dumped the party in June 2020 after he was disqualified by the Screening Committee of the APC ahead of the governorship primary elections.
The Screening Committee Osagie-Ize Iyamu who would later lose to Obaseki, to participate in the party’s primary election while it disqualified the embattled incumbent governor over discrepancies in his academic credentials.
He renounced his membership of the APC on June 16 and later joined the PDP.
“I have officially resigned my membership of the All Progressives Congress (@OfficialAPCNg) after meeting with the CoS to@MBuhari. We shall continue the battle to protect the interest of Edo people and sustain good governance in the state,” Obaseki wrote on his Twitter page.
After leaving the APC, the governor announced that he had joined the PDP.
“I have officially joined the @OfficialPDPNig to advance my ambition to seek re-election as Governor of Edo State, Obaseki wrote on his Twitter page on Friday.
“I, as always, remain committed to engendering good governance and sustainable development of our dear state.”
It would be recalled that Ayo Fayose, a former governor of Ekiti State had also cautioned Obaseki against returning to the APC after winning the election.
Fayose said this in a series of tweets adding that he has never been a fan of Obaseki and Oshiomole.
“My position is that, for obvious reasons, I am not a fan of either Governor Obaseki or (Adams) Oshiomhole. That notwithstanding, I believe Obaseki will win, but he should honour his agreement with the PDP by not returning to APC after assuming office for the second term for flimsy excuses,” said Fayose.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94