Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has said that his victory during last Saturday governorship election has confirmed the dominance of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP,) in South South region of Nigeria.
Obaseki, who stated this in Yenagoa during a thank you visit to Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, added that his re-election on the party’s platform will serve as a unifying factor for the South-South region.
He also expressed gratitude to Governor Diri and the people of Bayelsa state for their support which made his re-election possible.
He explained that the victory, which has brought all the states in the South South under one party, will foster rapid socio-economic and infrastructural development in the region.
He also commended President Muhammadu Buhari for ensuring a level playing field in the poll and expressed the optimism that the outcome will rub off positively on future elections in the country and allow the will of the people to prevail at all times.
He said: “We drove here tonight from Asaba as part of our tour to come and say thank you.
“To come and appreciate His Excellency, Governor Diri and the people of Bayelsa State for what you have done for us; for the contributions you made to ensure that we emerged victorious in last Saturday’s election.
“We did not want to keep it late just to let you know how truly grateful we are.
“Senator Diri said he didn’t do much, just prayers.
“But that was more than enough.
“You did more than prayers.
“You visited us, you contributed, you gave us support, you prayed.
“These are all the things that came together to give us victory.
“This victory is what we call unity victory.
“It has united us in Edo as one people.
“It has united us in Bendel as one sub-region and it is uniting us in the South-South as one region.
“As a region, we have all it takes to be greater than many countries in Africa but the starting point is cooperation.”
Earlier, Governor Douye Diri described Obaseki’s re-election as triumph for democracy in Nigeria, saying it was a litmus test that the country passed creditably.
He noted that the Edo governor’s victory was significant to people of the state as it proved that power comes only from God and not man.
He lauded Obaseki for his tenacity just as he praised the people of Edo for standing by their governor.
He said by so doing, they had set a standard for others to follow.
