… Says: we won’t sit back and see a resurgence of godfatherism
… Every right-thinking Edo man should support Obaseki in what he is doing
…Lauds Obaseki’s devt strides
Senior Technical Assistant (Media) to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Louis Odion, has said Edo people will decide who becomes governor of the state in the 2020 gubernatorial election and not one individual, warning against a resurgence of godfatherism in the state.
He said this while addressing journalists at the Benin Airport in Benin City, after attending Ambrose Alli University’s (AAU) 22nd Convocation ceremony, held in Ekpoma, in Edo State at the weekend.
Odion, who served as Commissioner for Information and Orientation under former Edo State Governor and National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, said: “I am quite impressed with what I have seen.
“It is significant in the sense that everyone will agree that the economy has been constricting in the last few years. We have less resources coming from Abuja but then if you look round, a lot is going on. What I see is commitment, vision and passion to lay the foundation for sustainable growth and development in Edo State.”
He continued, “I am particularly impressed with the quality of investment in education and as they say, our greatest asset as a country is not oil resource but our human capital. If you find a government investing in education not at a superficial level but at the basic level, then that government should be commended.”
On the second-term bid of Governor Godwin Obaseki, Odion said, “Every right-thinking Edo man should support Obaseki in what he is doing. I know that he has not received any World Bank. He didn’t go to bond market; the little he collects from Abuja; he is utilizing it judiciously.
“I see fidelity of the kind President Buhari subscribes to at work, which places value on probity, accountability and transparency. I believe every right-thinking Edo man is supporting the governor.”
“I am a professional: a journalist and writer. I won’t say all of this if I do not believe in the governor. Ultimately, Edo people will decide who governs them.
It won’t be the decision of one individual and the good news is that people like us fought against godfatherism which I was almost killed for in 2012. Late Comrade Olaitan wasn’t that lucky. He was brutally killed before his two-year-old son,” he added.
The president’s aide noted, “People like us who fought against godfatherism won’t sit back and see a resurgence of godfatherism; that won’t work. Ultimately, Edo people will decide who rules them.
It won’t be a decision of any single individual. When election is approaching, people are free to make comments. All kinds of people come up with different rhetoric. But I think the right-thinking people can see commitment. That is what counts.”
