Obaseki has failed Edo people, says PDP

The Edo State Chapter of the PDP has again descended on Gov. Godwin Obaseki, describing his tenure as a hardship phase for the people.

Addressing a news conference on Wednesday in Benin, the Chairman of the PDP in the state, Chief Dan Orbih, said that Obaseki had failed to offer leadership to make the people enjoy the dividends of democracy.

According to Orbi, the governor should face governance and stay out of the endless crisis rocking the state’s chapter of the APC.

Orbih, who has been a vocal critic of Obaseki’s style of governance, said his advice was imperative because the crisis in the APC had become a distraction for the governor, preventing him from offering meaningful governance.

He lamented that Obaseki’s three-year tenure had only brought agony and deprivation to the populace, denying them the benefits expected from democracy.

The PDP chieftain also advised Obaseki to desist from the “yearly jamboree” of inviting people for talks in the name of marking anniversary but to channel resources to tackling problems.

“It is obvious that the APC has nothing to offer to the people of Edo State. As at today, Edo State is the only state where only a few elected members of the state assembly are sitting.

“More so, the governor has not delivered on the 200,000 jobs he promised youths in Edo State.

“Our roads are begging for attention. There is worsening insecurity, in spite of the huge amount of security vote he withdraws monthly.

“He should, henceforth, commence the support of security agencies in the state for efficiency and if he cannot, he should stop withdrawing or collecting security votes.

Orbi also decried the inability of the government to pay bursaries and grant scholarships to Edo students in various institutions of learning, lamenting the dilapidation of various schools in the state.

According to him, the least the government can do for the youths is to employ more teachers to tackle the dearth of teachers in the state.

“The APC promised better days for Edo State and more than 11 years after the people have nothing to show for the promise.

“Edo people should remain resolute and committed in effecting a change in government come 2020.

Orbih also condemned the state government’s clampdown on civil society groups for demanding accountability to determine the status of infrastructure in the state.

“The governor owes it a duty to account for every action of his in the state.”

On the defection of Mr Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the PDP’s flag-bearer in the 2016 gubernatorial elections to the APC, Orbih said that Ize-Iyamu was yet to inform the PDP of his decision, noting however, that the PDP in the state was intact, stronger, more united and bolder.

He disclosed that the party had concluded plans for mass mobilisation of voters, ahead of Edo 2020.

According to him, Edo PDP knows how to manage itself, and in 2020, we will do the needful because we want a party that can manage crisis.