Don Pedro Obaseki Quits Edo Governorship Race

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

Forty-eight hours after the leadership of the All Progressives Congress assured aspirants in Edo State of a level playing ground in this month’s governorship primaries, Don Pedro Obaseki, one of the gubernatorial hopefuls, on Monday announced his withdrawal from the race and membership of APC.

The university lecturer and film director, who said he hoped to contest the election on a new platform which he is yet to disclose, added however that he was still consulting and that in a few days, he would declare his next destination.

Obaseki who is a cousin to a leading aspirant in the party in the state, Godwin Obaseki, told journalists that he had lost faith in the primaries of the APC.

He said it was becoming obvious to him that the outcome of trhe primaries was already pre-determined to favour a particular aspirant and that the delegates were were just waiting to rubber-stamp the aspirant.

“I have lost faith in the primary process. Unfortunately, I was in Abuja on Thursday and I stumbled into a document that I cannot divulge to the public for security reasons that makes it obviously clear that all those who are buying or who have bought their forms to contest the primaries of the APC are wasting their time.

“As an academic and someone who is guided by thesis, antithesis and synthesis, I elected to withdraw my intention to contest the primaries of the APC, I will not tell you that I no longer a member of the APC but I am more interested in being an E.D.O. (Empower, Develop and Opportunities) man than an APC man, I will rather be an EDO man than being a PDP. I am not running for the election as an APC candidate anymore. I am running for the election as EDO candidate on September 10.

“I have therefore elected upon wide consultations with my immediate and extended family, supporters, friends and well wishers, not to pay the unwholesome fee of N5,500,000 for the expression of interest, and nomination forms of the APC”

He also said the coming primaries of the APC would be the most expensive in the history of the state as he alleged that the about 3,000 delegates would be bribed with N200,000.

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