The Otaru of Auchi, His Royal Highness, Haliru Momoh, Ikelebe III, has affirmed that he is with Governor Adams Oshiomhole on the choice of Mr Godwin Obaseki as the next Governor of Edo State, saying “wherever the Governor asks me to go, I am going.”
Speaking while receiving the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Godwin Obaseki along with his running mate, Mr. Felix Shaibu who were led to the palace by Oshiomhole, on Wednesday, the Otaru of Auchi said, “wherever he, the governor, asks me to go, that is where I am going.”
The Otaru who commended Oshiomhole for his sterling performance as governor, said: “today, I testify that our son has done wonderfully well in navigating what is good for man, for his people in Edo State and Nigeria. That is the service to human beings.
“Now the service to God is worship because he said if we don’t regard him as one who has all the powers, if we don’t believe in him, whatever else you do, you will make a dust to fly far and wide.”
He concluded, “we have our own mission on earth, every one of us. It is destined. It must happen. Your mission on earth is destined by God, not by human beings, and therefore, it must happen on the date, the hour, the second. It must happen.”
The Otaru thanked the governor for his intervention in ending the gully erosion which had ravaged Auchi, saying the people of Auchi will never forget him for it.
Speaking earlier, Oshiomhole commended the Otaru of Auchi for his cooperation with the State Government which made the urban renewal drive in Auchi a success and assured him that Mr. Godwin Obaseki will excel.
“We have enjoyed your robust support. You got your communities to cooperate even when we had to pull down some buildings in order to make this urban renewal possible. I want to thank you for the support, your prayers, and with all humility, your highness, we pray that our candidate will win the next election. And I stand to guarantee, your highness, that Godwin will do even better because having been part of the team, chairing the Economic Team, there is nothing we have done that he is not a party to, and he understands the issues.”
Oshiomhole, who took a swipe at the candidate of a faction of the PDP, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, said “the money voted by their own government, PDP, to secure the people of Nigeria from terrorists at a time when terrorists became very emboldened that they were hanging flags in several local government areas in parts of the North, they were moving close to Okenne. The money appropriated, special votes to fight this scourge, the man that visited you, it is not about accusation now, Ize-Iyamu in his own hand writing in the office of the EFCC in Port Harcourt, not only confessed how he, Ize-Iyamu collected N700 million once from Fidelity Bank, not for the security for which the money was appropriated.
“He has also been confessing exactly the way witches confess in villages how they shared the money meant for the security of Nigeria. And then they turned around to blame someone for the activities of terrorists. People like that who should be prosecuted, having confessed to the crime, they are the ones going round the state asking that votes. They took N700 million because they still had the key to the treasury of the state, when they have the key to the treasury of the state, they will take everything.”
He called on traditional rulers to scrutinize the activities of politicians who seek to govern Edo State, “I think that traditional rulers have a duty to scrutinize the activities of all those who want to govern. If you want to run a private business, we don’t need to go through all this, but if you want to govern the state, if you want to be entrusted with public treasury, certainly, it can’t be those who already have a history of stealing shamelessly. That is not all that they did. They took another N300 million for the same election. That is already N1.2 billion.”
Also speaking, the gubernatorial candidate of the APC, Mr. Godwin Obaseki said he was at the Palace to seek the blessings of the Otaru.
“What we have come here to do today, myself and my running mate Felix Shuaibu is to ask for your prayers and blessings as we embark on this race, this gubernatorial race. I want to assure you sir that we will not disappoint you and the people of Edo State. Interestingly, we will need you and the traditional institutions even more than ever before.”
He concluded, “So, we will ask you for your support in the days to come when we enter Osadebey Avenue. We want to assure you that in all we do, we will put our people first. And we will ensure we utilize the people’s resources to its fullest.”
