The outgoing Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki has warned that the civil servants would be the first victim if his candidate, Asue Ighodalo does not win the next Saturday Governorship election in the State.
According to report Governor Obaseki gave the warning at a thank-you meeting with the public servants at the Sir Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub in Benin City.
Obaseki, however, opined that the only thank-you the civil servants could give him was to come out en masse on Saturday and vote for Asue Ighodalo as the governor of the state.
According to him, I came to appreciate and thank you from the bottom of my heart. I wouldn’t have achieved what we achieved without you.
“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.
“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.
“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”, he said.
The governor, however, said he would be thanking Asue Ighodalo for agreeing to take over from him, noting that it was a great thing.
While noting that the good news is that Edo State is blessed with high-calibre human and natural resources, he added that there was still a lot of work to be done in the state.
He posited that when he came to office, he told himself that he was going to be the last governor to use paper.
Obaseki, who acknowledged that it wasn’t easy, pointed out that today, the level of technology-driven operation among Edo public servants has no rival in Nigeria.
In his speech, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Asue Ighodalo, said Governor Obaseki has done tremendously well and that the transformation in the civil service is second to none.
“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.
“One of the worst things that can happen to a group of people is to get 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,” he added.
Ighodalo, however, charged the people to come out en masse to vote and defend their votes.
