Prince Tony Momoh, a former Minister of Information and one of the national leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), said on Wednesday that he won’t be shocked if Governor Godwin Obaseki, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), wins this weekend’s governorship election in Edo State.

Momoh, former national chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), said the APC must work very hard if it must win the election.

He said Governor Obaseki was on solid ground and it would be foolhardy for any serious politician to dismiss him in Saturday’s election.

Momoh, who said he wanted his party, the APC, to win, however, said he based his opinion on the fact that the PDP is a very strong party in Edo State, having two out of the three senators in the state as well as the endorsements Obaseki had received from teachers, pensioners, and others in the state.

While saying nobody could predict the outcome of the election, he, however, added that he also expected Ize-Iyamu to emerge victorious, given the fact that he is a grassroots politician who has a large followership in the state.

“I won’t be surprised if any of the party wins. If INEC declares Obaseki the winner, I won’t be shocked, because both candidates are solid on the ground.

“You cannot say that Obaseki is not solid on the ground. He is very solid and also Ize-Iyamu cannot be written off, too.

“He is also very solid on the ground. So, we have to wait until after the election to know the winner. The only thing I’m praying for is that there should be no violence.

“Initially, I said APC will overrun Edo State; that was before Ize-Iyamu joined us.

“When he joined us, I said with his exit from the PDP, it would be a total victory for the APC and total elimination for the PDP. Then, we had a problem and Obaseki left and joined the PDP.

“Then I said, with Obaseki joining the PDP, there will be problems for APC because he won’t go alone.

“He will move his structures out of the APC to the PDP. Some people criticised me when I said so, but we all saw what happened.

“I also said the Edo governorship election will no longer be a tea party for the APC. It will be a very tough battle.

“The APC must work hard if they will defeat the PDP. I said so, having looked at the situation on the ground.

“The PDP has two senators, the APC has only one. Out of the nine House of Reps members, APC has three, the rest are in the PDP.

“In the presidential election, the APC had 46 percent, the PDP had 54. So, I don’t write off anybody at all.

“We must work very hard but my own consolation has been and still is the fact that Ize-Iyamu is a grassroots politician in Edo State.

“Everybody knows him in Edo and he has massive support at the grassroots level.

“But Obaseki is the incumbent and he has lots of support among the institutions, such as traders, teachers, pensioners, who all have endorsed him.

“These organised bodies are not people you just dismiss like that.”

Speaking further, Momoh said Obaseki would have remained in the APC if he wasn’t disqualified from participating in the primaries by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC, led by its former national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.

Momoh, who is a senior lawyer, also said those claiming Obaseki would be removed by the court if he wins the election for participating in two primaries are wrong.

He argued that the governor only participated in the PDP primaries having been barred from the APC.

“Obaseki wouldn’t have left the APC if he wasn’t disqualified. Why would he have left?

“He was disqualified, that was why he left. So, people who said he wasn’t qualified because he contested in two primaries don’t know what they are talking about.” (Daily Independent)

Update news