Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Tony Azeigbemi, has stated that the recent Benin High Court ruling which disqualified the Deputy Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Saturday, September 19th, 2020, poll in the state, Mallam Gani Audu, means nothing to the PDP administration led by Governor Godwin Obaseki.
“You will recall that the All Progressives Congress(APC) state chairman, Anselm Ojezua, had warned Edo people and whole of Nigeria that the APC does not have a candidate for the Saturday, September 19th, 2020, governorship election.
“He is a lawyer so he should know. I am sure this (judgment) is a manifestation of what he said then. We don’t have the judgment yet. Until we see the judgment before we can say what the judge used in arriving at this conclusion. We will wait for the judgment to have an informed opinion on that.”
Going further, he said: “The judgment means absolutely nothing. It doesn’t mean anything to us. We knew they (APC) didn’t have a candidate.
“I am sure that’s why Edo people rejected them. So, it doesn’t mean anything to us. The law has just taken its course. Are we surprised? No. Did we expect it to come? Yes.
“Edo people have rightly taken that decision to vote for His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki, who was our candidate during the election.”
Azeigbemi charged Edo people to continue to support Governor Godwin Obaseki.
“I believe that the plans he has for the state are so grounded in common and economic sense. That in no time Edo people will soon start seeing what those plans are.
“It is just to plead for patience. We know there are issues security wise and all that. But the governor is not sleeping. He is wanting to make sure that Edo people go to bed with their two eyes closed.
“So, once again, it is just to plead with Edo people to know that the reins of government are in good hands in the PDP led administration of Godwin Obaseki.”
He denied insinuations that there is apprehension within the PDP on the issue of political appointments by the governor.
“I refuse to agree that there is apprehension. Amongst whom? I am the chairman of the ruling party in Edo State. I don’t have any apprehension in me. So, in whom will it be? I don’t think there is any apprehension.
“We should learn how to follow people. We should learn how to follow our leaders that we have voted for.
“For us as a party we believe strongly in what the governor has done. We are part of the decision making process that appointments should be made in February for us to clear the table. The table was quite dirty. So anybody that’s having apprehension will just have BP for nothing.”
On the tenure of the local government councils management Azeigbemi assured that they will complete their constitutional three years tenure before they will be dissolved and elections held to replace them.
