TELL Magazine

One of the three governorship aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) in Edo State, Gideon Ikhine, an engineer, has stepped down for the state governor, Godwin Obaseki who joined the party last Friday. Withdrawing from the race ahead of the June 25 primary election of the party, Ikhine said his decision was to allow the governor consolidate on his developmental strides in the state.

Speaking at his campaign office in Benin at a ceremony attended by the governor and leadership of the PDP, Ikhine said “Governor Godwin Obaseki is a prayer-answered for the PDP. We might have a common vision but the means of achieving them may be at variance; but God has brought them to reality.” Urging his supporters to support the re-election of the incumbent governor, Ikhine said, “We want to ask for your support and to ensure that everyone that has worked with us across the state redoubles their efforts in ensuring that the margin of victory between the PDP and the opposition is wider.”

Responding, Obaseki reassured that his administration would continue to prioritise the welfare and wellbeing of all Edo people. He said “PDP is Edo and Edo is PDP. Together, we shall bring Edo to where God has destined it to be. Governance has to be about the people, not about a few individuals. It has to be about translating the norm and the new value where we say white is white and black is black. We have to rebuild our great party; if PDP were not in the State, l may not have switched to PDP.

“Today is the beginning of a new dawn in our party. What we are doing is a merger. What one person was doing before, two persons will now be doing the same thing. The victory will be for us all. Therefore, everyone must have a space in the party. We want to build a party that is fair and democratic, where every group in Edo State will see that there is something in the party. I want to build a party that is based on fairness, equity and justice.”

Two other aspirants, Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, a member of the House of Representatives, and Kenneth Imasuangbon, a lawyer and educationist, have however vowed not to step down for Obaseki.