He Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, yesterday said that it would be a miracle if any other party in the state gets 20 per cent of votes at the September 16 governorship election in the state.

Obaseki, who met with leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from each ward across the 18 Local Government Areas of the state, stated that he was sure that the next governor of the state would come from the PDP.

Obaseki said: “I want to thank all of you for the work and commitment put in to ensure that our party in Edo State remains united, focused, and organised and is able to deliver and produce the leadership our people have been yearning for. I believe that from the work we have done till date, it will be a miracle if the next party gets up to 20 per cent of the votes. We are not afraid or disturbed by the antics to try and distort us. I want to assure you that under my watch, the next governor of Edo State will be a PDP governor.”

The meeting was to strategise ahead of the governorship election taking place on September 21, 2024.

The meeting was held at Government House, Benin City, the Edo State capital.

Present at the stakeholders meeting were the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Engr. Marvellous Godwins Omoboyo; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dr. Osaigbovo Iyoha and Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly (EDHA), Hon. Blessing Agbebaku.

Others were Chief Tom Ikimi; Senator Clifford Ordia; State Party Chairman of PDP, Dr. Anthony Aziegbemi; PDP governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo; Local Government Chairmen, members of the Edo PDP Working Committee, and serving Commissioners, amongst others.

Obaseki, who expressed the party’s readiness for the forthcoming election, thanked the party leaders for their commitment, dedication and courage, which has kept the party together as one strong, united, and indivisible party.

He said, “I want to thank you all for rallying round the party to organise the Ad-hoc Congress which produced the party candidate for the 2024 Edo Governorship election. That Congress chose our candidate and the primary election that produced Asue Ighodalo is being celebrated nationwide as the best ever in the nation.

“I thank you all for working with the delegates and for electing him as our candidate to carry our flag in this election and to succeed me as governor of Edo State. I have known him for about four decades and thank God for giving us somebody who I am certain will do better than I have done. He has the attributes, intelligence, and integrity and grew up under the great discipline of his mother.

“I am convinced that with the efforts that all of you have put in, Asue Ighodalo will be the governor of Edo State come September 21 governorship election 2024. We are the only party in the state and I am not afraid, we will win the election.”

Noting that the election is 60 days from yesterday, Obaseki stated: “We commend the Director General and members of the campaign council, who have been working seriously underground. I thank you all for the hardwork and effort put in to make our campaign a successful one.”

He further noted, “We have been able to inaugurate the State Campaign Council, Local Governments Campaign Council and the ward campaign teams are all in place too. We have also been able to upload the list of all our party agents in all the 4,519 units, and successfully uploaded the names of all our agents into the INEC portal. This meeting is to brief you on our political activities over the next 60 days leading to the election.

“The candidate is finalising his campaign itinerary. What we have done is to make sure that the last campaign will take place on the 18th of September 2024. Local Government campaign will start on the 1st of September while this campaign will be flagged off on the 29th of August 2024 where we will be inviting national leaders of the party to come help us with the flag-off of the campaign.

“Between today and that date, we expect the candidate to tour all the 192 wards in the state as the candidate will be making stops in all your wards.” (Sunday Telegraph: Text, Excluding Headline)

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