Lawrence Olaoye 
…says Obaseki exit painful
K
ogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has assured Nigerians that the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) would win the oncoming governorship elections in Edo, Ondo, Anambra and other states with staggered elections.
The Kogi State governor, who spoke with newsmen after a meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, yesterday said the decision of the Edo State governor to leave the APC for the opposition PDP was painful.
Commenting on the chance of the party in the oncoming Edo governorship election despite the crisis in the party, Bello said: “We are going to Edo State and we shall win Edo State election overwhelmingly for APC. We are going to go to Ondo State and win it overwhelmingly for APC. We will take Anambra State and record it as a second APC state from the South East and integrate our Igbo brothers into the fold and we are going to take Ekiti and Osun once again.
“So, we are going to continue to expand our coast. So, APC is strong. We are not divided; we are only seeing one same point from different angle and we are trying to make ourselves understand the points. That is just it. There is no misunderstanding.”
Asked whether the incumbency factor won’t count against the APC candidate, he said, “We have seen those in power before that are dethroned. We have seen practically that President Muhammadu Buhari of APC dethroned PDP, the former President that was on seat. So, that is not any trouble at all. APC is going to win Edo State. But unfortunately, I really felt the leaving of my colleague, His Excellency, Governor Godwin Obaseki in whatever circumstance to another political party. It is painful anyway, but as a political party, we are going to take it back.”
Asked what he intended to achieve as the head of a special panel raised by the Northern Governors Forum to make the North-central safer, he said “Like we know earlier, security is topmost priority of this administration and we are doing our best to ensure that the nation is secured. As Northern Region governors, we met and decided that we must tackle insecurity head on. So basically, my committee is to liaise with the various security agencies and security operatives to ensure that the necessary security architecture is put in place and to ensure that at the end of the day, we get the best secured region and that of the country at large.”
On his meeting with the Chief of Staff, he said: “We came to congratulate him over the appointment and that we will continue to collaborate with him as North Central governors and we will continue to provide necessary data and information that will guide him in discharge of his duties and responsibilities and to guide Mr. President as far as the region is concerned. So basically that is what we came for.”
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