Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, has declared the upcoming governorship election in the state “a do-or-die affair”.

The Edo state off-cycle gubernatorial election is slated to be held on September 21.

Asue Ighodalo, candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) are the main contenders in the election.

Speaking at the PDP grand finale rally in the Ekenwan area of Benin City, the state capital, Obaseki berated Adams Oshiomhole, his predecessor, for performing below par during his tenure.

“The person I took over from had no respect for our people, had no respect for women, encouraged prostitution and women’s trafficking,” Obaseki said.

“When I took over office, our pensioners wore black on Labor Day, but today they wear white.

“When I took office, our youths had no jobs, but today don’t they have jobs? After eight years, is Edo not one of the safest in Nigeria?

“This election is do or die; if they do, we will die. Next week Saturday by this time, vote for the PDP to become the next governor.”

On Thursday, political parties and their candidates in Edo signed the peace accord to allow for a free and fair election in the state, although the PDP declined to sign the agreement.

Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), has warned governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against interfering in the affairs of the party in Rivers state.

Wike and Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, have been involved in a political tussle over the control of the state since 2023.

The rift between both politicians has created two factions in the Rivers house of assembly — with each camp electing a speaker loyal to the minister and the governor.

Wike spoke at the PDP secretariat in Port Harcourt during the party’s state congress on Saturday.

He was responding to a recent expression of support by the PDP Governors’ Forum in a communiqué issued in Jalingo, the capital of Taraba, for Fubara.

The PDP governors also called for a review of the party congress outcome to restore Fubara’s leadership role in the state.

But Wike warned the governors to steer clear of the political affairs in Rivers state.

“Let nobody be intimidated; I know how it is when you have worked hard and at the end of the day you are pushed away. I know how bad you feel,” the former governor of Rivers said.

“And let me assure all of you. Not while we live will anybody take away the structures of PDP from us.

“I hear that there are some governors who said that they will take away the structure and give it back to somebody. I pity those governors because I’ll put fire in their states.

“When God has given you peace and you say you don’t want peace, then whatever you see, you take. Prepare, because I have the capacity to also do the same thing in your own state.

“Whether you are from Bauchi, as far as I know that you are trying to put yourself in Rivers State, your hand will get burnt, and you will never sleep in your state; you will see political crisis.”

However, Fubara was absent at Saturday’s state congress, attended by some serving and past lawmakers at both federal and state levels.

What would have resulted in the removal of the Alimosho Local Government chairman, Jelili Suleimon, was on Monday prevented by the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa.

Lawmakers had suggested on the floor of the House that the council chairman be removed or suspended for ‘stubbornly disrespecting’ the House and refusing to obey its resolutions concerning toll collections in the Iyana-Ipaja area of Alimosho.

One person had been killed on April 16, 2024, when fracas occurred in Iyana-Ipaja over allegations that council chairman forcefully withdrew the collection of revenues from Abiodun Ejigbadero and handed same to a man allegedly loyal to him.

After what a member of the House, Hon. Sa’ad Olumoh, described as a painstaking two months investigation in which all parties to the issue were invited, the Assembly directed Jelili to return Ejigbadero, who was able to present all the vital documents requested during the inquiries.

However, the lawmakers surprisingly received a letter from the secretary to the Alimosho Local Government council, Dare Ogunkoya, stating that the chairman cannot obey the resolutions of the House concerning the matter.

The letter read by the Clerk of the House, Barr. Olalekan Onafeko, said any action by the council chairman on the resolutions of the House would be contentious.

Reacting to the letter, Hon. Sanni Okanlawon, who chaired the committee that investigated the crisis, described Jelili as a stubborn chairman who would go any length to debase the House.

He recalled that in resolving the matter, the committee invited all the stakeholders including Jelili, who the committee discovered to be the cause of the mayhem.

Okanlawon said while Jelili could not provide any documents, Ejigbadero produced all documents to prove his position as toll collector in the place.

According to Okanlawon, Jelili had remained “defiant and, to say the least, this is an affront against the House that had resolved the issue.”

He urged the House to invoke the right section of the law against the council chairman as a deterrent.

In his contribution, Majority Leader Noheem Adams, said the letter by Ogunkoya undermines the authority of the House which sought peace in the affected area.

Deputy Majority Leader Adedamola Kasunmu told his colleagues, “I can attest to his (Jelili’s) stubbornness. He has shown incompetence and irresponsibility. For us to avert further loss of lives, it is good that he is either immediately removed or suspended.”

In their individual contributions, the two lawmakers from Alimosho, Hon. Kehinde Joseph and Luqman Orelope, pleaded with the House for leniency on the council chairman.

The duo expressed surprise that the council could disobey the House in such a manner, while Joseph urged that the chairman could be suspended instead of an outright removal.

While noting all the contributions, Dr. Obasa wondered why Alimosho is always enmeshed in crises adding that the resolution by the House was to ensure peace in the community.

Pacifying the lawmakers, Dr. Obasa said the chairman should be given the benefit of doubt since the letter was not directly written by him and, as such, he could claim ignorance.

He, therefore, directed the Clerk to resend the resolutions of the House to the council chairman, the Local Government Service Commission and other top officials of the Alimosho Local Government council.