The governorship candidate of Labour Party, LP, in Edo State, Isaiah Osifo, has said the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, won’t be allowed to pocket the destinies of the State as he did in Lagos.
Isaiah Osifo gave the warning in reaction to Tinubu’s comment on the crisis rocking the Edo State House of Assembly.
The crisis in the Edo State House of Assembly had led to same day impeachment of the Speaker, Frank Okiye and the Deputy Speaker.
Reacting to the crisis, Tinubu had stated that the State Governor, Godwin Obaseki committed an impeachable offence by ordering the renovation of the Assembly complex at such a time.
Reacting to Tinubu’s remark, Osifo warned the former Lagos State governor to stay off politics in Edo State.
Speaking in Benin City, the Edo State capital on Sunday, the LP governorship candidate said Tinubu and former APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole won’t be allowed to impose retrogressive politics on the state.
“In Lagos State, Asiwaju Tinubu has succeeded in putting the destinies of over twenty million Lagosians in his pocket, who must go and prostrate in his Bourdillon residence before they can seek elective positions, buy property and even start a business.
“It is this retrogressive brand of politics that Tinubu wants to import to Edo State. But he fails to realise that Edo people have never been candidates for such mental dominance and subservience. He can check Nigeria’s historical records for this fact.
“Tinubu cannot do to our people in the 21st century, what our forebears vehemently rejected till this day. He cannot subordinate a free people like us, who would give anything for the triumph of social justice, to his whims. He should learn about Edo people from the rise and fall of Adams Oshiomhole, the sacked national chairman of the APC,” he said.
The LP governorship candidate stated that Obaseki had succeeded in stamping out the activities of area boys and land grabbers from Edo’s socioeconomic space but the reverse was the case in Lagos.
He insisted that Obaseki has done more in Edo State than Tinubu’s “stooges occupying the seat of power in Lagos” have done.
“In Edo State, the Geographic Information Service agency, set up by Governor Obaseki issues Certificate of Occupancy in a matter of weeks, and at affordable cost. But in Lagos, the issuance of C-of-Os is still largely influenced by Tinubu, several years after leaving office.
“This is the kind of culture Tinubu wants to foist on Edo people through his agents such as Adams Oshiomhole and the APC gubernatorial candidate. But Edo people will not allow them,” he added.
