By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
As the argument for performance in office between former Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the incumbent Governor, Godwin Obaseki rages, a two time governorship aspirant in the state, High Chief Jacob Egietseme Idinye has cautioned detractors noting that Obaseki’s performance in office dwarfs Oshiomhole’s 8-year stint as Governor in the state.
High Chief Idinye also accused the Senator representing the Edo North Senatorial district, Oshiomhole and his political surrogates of fueling crisis in the state which is “unhealthy for a decent and constitutional democracy”.
In a chat with some journalists at the Eko hotel in Victoria Island on Sunday, Idinye stated,
“His Excellency Governor Governor Godwin Obaseki did something novel, he is the only State Chief Executive that approved a new minimum wage of N70,000 for civil servants in the state ahead of others in Nigeria, with no shred of doubt he has etched his name on good governance in Edo State. Workers are now paid early than Adams time. There are also empirical evidence to show that red roofs are also built in some selected schools in the state. Another significant milestone under Obaseki is also that revenue of Edo state has increased significantly more than Adam’s tenure. Governor Obaseki passionately performed well for the state in numerous ways and his performance dwarfs Oshiomhole’s in 8 years of his tenure in government house.
“Allow me to also add that workers and pensioners welfare tops Obaseki’s priority, it is no news that workers rejoice and pensioners wear white on every May Day in acknowledgement of the dignifying treatment by Governor Obaseki’s administration. Oshiomhole for 8 years piled up arrears of salaries and emoluments of workers and pensioners, especially those at the Local Government Area (LGA) service, while Obaseki cleared these arrears in three years, putting smiles on their faces.
“On infrastructure, over 6000km of roads have been constructed across the state by the Governor Obaseki-led administration, with over 95 percent of them complete. This is a feat that Comrade Oshiomhole could not achieve in 8 years.
“In education, Obaseki has not only refurbished schools as Oshiomhole did, he has gone further to up-skill over 11,300 teachers and equipped them with cutting-edge technology to improve learning outcomes in classrooms. Consequently, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has rated Edo state as the state with the least out-of-school children in Nigeria.
He continued, “The Samuel Ogbemudia stadium, abandoned for years, was completely rebuilt, which has encouraged the Federal Government to slate international matches to hold in Benin City. It has also handed the hosting rights of the 2020 National Sports Festival to Edo State on the back of reforms in the sports sector.
“The Secretariat Complex, abandoned for almost 50 years, was awarded several times by Oshiomhole without execution. But the Obaseki-led administration awarded the contract and today the Secretariat Complex is the cynosure of all eyes in Edo State.”
Idinye said the crisis in the state is solely a battle for the control of the state’s resources, noting:
“Make no mistake, the crisis in Edo State has nothing to do with performance because there is no governor in Nigeria as we speak that has performed better than Governor Obaseki. The crisis is all about the control of the state’s resources. While Obaseki believes that these resources should be used to serve the people, opposition believes it should be used to ‘carry them along,’ which is another euphemism for ‘graft. The Peoples Democratic Party is set for victory in the Saturday, September 21, 2024 governorship election and with no shred of doubt, Asue Ighodalo is the best man for the job. Edo State needs a technocrat and man of integrity like Ighodalo who has the experience, commitment and the zest to add value to our state and the future of out children.”