A civil society organisation in Edo, Labour and Civil Society Coalition, LASCO, has cautioned the state governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki against making utterances that are capable of causing division in Edo polity.
The group advised that instead of dissipating energy on ploys to further division in the state, the governor should double down on fulfilling his electioneering promises in his second term.
In a press release signed by its General Secretary, Comrade Tony Erha, titled: “Stop your divisive utterances And settled down to deliver on your electioneering promises to Edo people”, the group stated the governor had failed to act about three months into his second term.
The release read: “The Edo State Chapter of the Labour and Civil Society Coalition (LASCO), is alarmed by some uncomplimentary media statements credited to the Edo State governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, and we caution him not to use that as a ploy to further divide and redirect the people from the real issue of fulfilling the electioneering promises he made to them in the 2020 governorship election.
“Unfortunately, many months after the said (governorship) election, the governor had failed to act and he is still fumbling, trying to get his bearings.
“Mr Obaseki had, a few days ago, renewed his usual threat of bringing to justice the previous administration in the state, over the N30 billion Benin City stormwater project, insinuating that it was a ploy to defraud the state.
“While inspecting a catchment of the said project, he, among other things, vowed to retrieve all the money stolen through it.
“He particularly queried the poor spate of work that had been carried out, and assured the people that he was going to address the poor design and give back to the residents of the area a finished project that would correct the previous work.”
The group, who claimed to be a witness to the activities of the previous administration under the governorship of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, said: “As a witness to the activities of the previous government and the one in which Governor Obaseki is now serving a second term, Edo LASCO will ask pertinent questions as follows:
“With Mr Obaseki as a former Economic Adviser and an integral part of the decision making and implementation bodies of the previous government that he so desires to probe, is he not part of the officers of the administration that he is probing and one of those he vowed would cough out the N30 billion, given that he played key roles in the project?
“As a very valuable member of the said previous government and one who was seen in the constant monitoring of the storm water project, did he not see the poor designs and construction work of the project for the many years until he became a governor?
“Why is the governor continuing with the same contractor of the project, when he had done a poor job?
“A discernible Edo public would see the governor’s outbursts as mere pretence and rhetoric, hence it expected that Mr Obaseki, instead of settling down to the real business of fulfilling his electioneering promises to the long-suffering people of the state, long after he was declared winner of the recent governorship election, is still busy wasting the people’s precious time and expending energy on a witch-hunt and quixotic exercise.”
It added: “If Governor Obaseki’s government had not provided all the need for the people, why does he try to frustrate the efforts of Mr Agba and President Buhari to better the lots of the hapless Edo masses?
“Derogative remarks were similarly made against the person and office of Mr Agba, by the governor, that a person who supervised the project ‘who called himself a minister’ is busy supervising bigger projects for the Federal Government.
“He who mocks a messenger mocks his sender.”
LASCO also urged the Edo people and President Buhari to call Governor Obaseki to order and to desist from frustrating every effort of the Federal Government to bring projects to the state.
“For instance, while other ministers were ordered to visit their state constituencies to mitigate against the EndSARS protests, Mr Obaseki tried to frustrate the efforts of the Federal Government, who sent Mr Agba.
“And during the latest supervision of the Agro Corridor road projects monitored in Edo, Edo Government deployed some youth and women, who also tried to disrupt it.
“It is the interest of the governor to embrace peace and collaborative effort for development of the state.”
