An Edo State based labour leader, human and political activist, Comrade Oregbe Omorodion, has blamed former governor of the state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, for the shocking defeat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and it’s candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, in the just concluded governorship election in the state, Sir Ralph Okhiria, reports.
The Edo State governorship election has been won and lost; so how do you feel?
Well first and foremost, I have to thank God almighty for making it a successful outing. I have to thank the Edo people, particularly the Binis. They spoke with one voice. They have done marvellously well. It is victory over oppression, over dictatorship. It is a shame for somebody who said ‘A’ but would be doing otherwise. Oshiomhole said “no godfatherism, one man one vote,“ yet he was taking us back to what he worked against. So we are very happy and we are grateful to God. Obaseki, Shaibu and Ogie fought gallantly.
So what is your advice to the winning governor and his team?
My advice is for him to be well focused, now that the battle is over. He should put behind him all those threats, all those side talks and focus on his vision for the Edo people. The loser, I would advise him, let him forget about litigation, wasting his money and wasting his time because the election, there was no rigging. It was very free and fair. He already has a lot of cases in courts to contend with. So let him congratulate the winner and man of the moment, Governor Obaseki. If he has any good idea, he should put it before governor. Tomorrow is better than today. Nobody knows what tomorrow has for anybody.
You’ve always complained of Oshiomhole, saying he was the problem of APC. Do you believe it was Oshiomhole’s activities that made APC to lose the election?
Yes. It is because of him because in 2016, he said so many bad things about Ize-Iyamu to the extent of saying “I set aside my immunity, I stand before my God” then he later turned around less than four years to tell us that what he said before was wrong and that what he is saying today is the right thing. How do we then believe him? Where Ize-Iyamu made a mistake; when he had gotten the ticket of the APC, he should have done the campaign on his own without Oshiomhole going with him. He would have done better than what he got now because if not for the vote buying, he wouldn’t have even gotten up to what he got now. We know what happened on the field.
So, what is your assessment of the voters in view of this vote buying issue you talked about?
We have always said ‘don’t sell your vote, don’t sell your future’. But they won’t hear. They will be moving from one polling unit to the other, looking for where the money is higher and it’s not the best thing for democracy. Even Saturday, someone said they are giving five thousand, another said they are giving two thousand and I accosted them and said “what you should know is that if they are giving you five thousand, divide that five thousand by four years and see what you are getting in a day” but they will not listen. Election is not supposed to be for money. It’s your right to choose who leads you. My advice is that even though there’s a lot of suffering in the country but five thousand cannot change one’s life.
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