Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo state, says he would abandon governance to concentrate on strategies for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to win the 2023 elections.
Obasaki said this at the inauguration of the state PDP campaign council on Friday.
“I want to assure you that I am here to support this campaign to the fullest. For me, the governance process will take a backseat from today. Politics will now take the front seat,” he said.
“Every time I have the privilege to talk with Atiku Abubakar, the incoming president, he always refers me back to what happened in 1999. He said don’t forget when we took over in 1999, Nigeria was as divided as it is today. The military has been there for a long time, the democratic culture has seized. He said the same tools we used then to make sure we bring Nigeria back together, we will deploy it this time.
“The economy of Nigeria was in shambles in 1999. Oil production and prizes had collapsed. He and Obasanjo came in. He was in charge of the economy, all the things that kept Nigeria going, the debt relief we got, all the investments they had to make.
“How they fought in Odi to send a lesson that nobody can vandalise pipelines or nobody can hold this country to ransom. All of those things they did at that time, today the same man is coming and he is giving another opportunity to help us salvage our country.
“Edo is not in contention. So, what we now need to do is to make sure that we use this as a base, for Atiku/Okowa election. This office will support the national campaign. There is a situation room from which we will connect other situation rooms across the country.
“This election is hand to hand combat. We have done it before. During my election, we visit every ward, that is the first time we did ward to ward campaign? We are going to repeat it again.”
