Edo 2024: Obaseki and Ighodalo Urge Civil Servants to Vote Wisely, Warn of Consequences of Choosing Wrong Candidate

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In a last-ditch effort to mop up votes ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State, Governor Godwin Obaseki and Dr. Asue Ighodalo, candidate of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, on Tuesday at a meeting with public and civil servants enlightened them of the consequences of making a wrong choice, warning that they would be the first victim of their mistake.

While Governor Obaseki feared that Edo would face a major risk if the workers missed it on Saturday as any mistake made would affect them first before others, Ighodalo, who credited the governor with having done tremendously well in building a civil service that is “number one in Nigeria”, promised to continue from where he was working, assuring that “You all here will be my priority …”

Addressing the state’s workforce during what he described as “a thank-you meeting”, held at the Sir Victor Uwaifo Hub, Airport Road, Benin City, the outgoing governor said, “I came to appreciate and thank you from the bottom of my heart,” as his government would not have achieved what it had achieved without them.

Speaking on how he had transformed the civil service, Governor Obaseki said when he came to office, he told himself that he was going to be the last governor to use paper. He acknowledged that though it wasn’t easy, “today, the level of technology-driven operation among Edo public servants has no rival in Nigeria”.

He said “What I have started is a long journey. How do we build a society that we are yearning for, and stop travelling to other countries? How to build a state where people will be proud to come to. The purpose of governance is to create the avenue to achieve set purposes.” Noting that Edo state is blessed with high calibre human and natural resources, he believed that there was still a lot of work to be done in the state.

According to Governor Obaseki, “It’s a journey. I am finishing the first part, but the journey must not stop. It must continue; the engine of development must continue to run. The rate at which we need to run will be very high when we make the right decision. We can’t afford any mistakes come Saturday.

“Those who want to take over power by all means are uneducated and have never worked in any better place. My message to you is that that is a risk we can’t afford. It is not about Obaseki but democracy and development.

“The risk is about allowing people without ideas of what to do to lead. People who can’t even articulate their ideas, people who can’t read a balance sheet. They can’t offer us anything, but all they talk about is federal might and others.

“Edo will face a major risk if you miss it on Saturday. Any mistake you make will affect you first before others. You will be the first victim. I thank the person that we want to take over from me for agreeing to take over from us. For Asue Ighodalo to agree to come and serve and take over from me, is a great thing. He was a board chairman of many companies and one of the largest in Nigeria.

“A man born in a home of civil service; his mother was the first female permanent secretary in Nigeria. I will feel so happy when Asue Ighodalo sits on the chair of governance in Edo. So, the ‘thank you’, you can give to me is to go out on Saturday and vote Asue Ighodalo and make him the governor of the state”.

In his speech, Ighodalo said Governor Obaseki had done tremendously well, boasting that the transformation in the civil service was second to none. According to the PDP flag bearer, “Edo State public and civil service is number one in Nigeria. Obaseki has done well, and I will continue from where Obaseki was working. You all here will be my priority – work together, function together, and continue to make Edo State a progressive state, and this shall be our focus. We won’t be a lazy government but build more on every foundation already laid down by the Obaseki administration. I promise you all that I will continue what Obaseki has done and build more on it”.

He said “one of the worst things that can happen to a group of people is to get a leadership that you cannot be proud of. But Edo State will never be like that. When we vote for the wrong person, we go into retrogression and the economy will crash. Edo will not be so”. Ighodalo then charged the people to come out en masse to vote and defend their votes.

Giving his vote of thanks, the Edo State Head of Service, (HoS) Anthony Okungbowa, thanked the governor for the tremendous reforms he had made possible in the state’s public and civil service and prayed to God to bless him. He also thanked the governorship candidate for finding time to come to address them.

Governor Obaseki thereafter went to commission the Third East / Sokponba Road Junction with traffic light.

In her welcome address, Mrs. Esigie Agbonlahor, thanked the governor for the improvement in the transportation sector in the state, and charged road users to obey the traffic lights and road markings. Agbonlahor advised pedestrians to use the walkways. She also appealed to the market women to obey road signs.

Pa Enogiawu Okaka, who represented the landlords in the area, said he was pleased to see the governor, Ighodalo, and their entourage. He said the Third Junction had been a mess and a den of robbers, but Obaseki had changed the narrative and thanked him for it.

Okaka appealed to drivers and road users to obey road rules and marks, and also appealed to market women to stay off the road to avoid casualty.