PDP'll Retain Edo, Says Gov. Diri

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the Edo State governorship election, Godwin Obaseki, will be re-elected in the September poll.

He maintained that Governor Obaseki's performance has surpassed the expectation of the Edo people.

Governor Diri, who joined his counterparts from Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and other party stalwarts, spoke on Saturday at the flag-off of the Edo PDP governorship campaign at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City.

He urged Edo people to turn out en masse to vote for the PDP in the September 19 election.

Senator Diri urged the people of Edo to remain resolute and not be deceived into accepting what they rejected in the last election.

 A press release by his acting Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, quoted the governor as saying  that power only comes from God and that they should not allow what he called federal might to intimidate them.

His words: "Governor Godwin Obaseki has surpassed the expectations of his people in terms of achievements and given a second term in office on the platform of the PDP, he will do even better.

"You remember in Bayelsa, they came with federal might like dogs that came back to their own vomit. That is the same scenario here in Edo. But if you stand firm, God will stand with you in this coming election."

 Speaking, National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, said the party is proud of Obaseki's achievements in the last four years, stating that all the party's governors were exemplary and were the reason democracy has endured in Nigeria.

"The PDP is not in Edo to campaign but to celebrate the man of the moment, a man of accomplishment, a corporate guru who achieved a lot for the former National Chairman of the APC."

Also, chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, said the anti-corruption crusade of the APC-led government has failed just as in security and the economy.

 He enjoined Edo people to turn out in their numbers and vote PDP as it is the only party that can offer them a better future.

In his remarks, chairman of the Edo PDP Campaign Organisation and Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, described Obaseki's fight against the godfatherism syndrome in Edo as a clear indication that he places the interest of his people above parochial ambitions.

Wike said no one man should be allowed to determine the outcome of the state's governorship poll.

He urged the people to unite and speak with one voice through the ballot on election day.

Delta State Governor and chairman of the South South Governors Forum, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, said come 2023, PDP would wrest power at the national level because the APC government had performed below expectation.

Addressing the rally, Governor Godwin Obaseki assured that when re-elected, he will "Make Edo Great Again (MEGA)," which is his campaign slogan.

Obaseki said the transformation of Edo will lead to the transformation of Nigeria and that the  September 19 election will be the confirmation of that statement.