A former governor of Lagos State and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has reportedly released N8 billion to reclaim Edo State from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in next Saturday’s gubernatorial poll in the state, sources familiar with the transaction said.
Described as Tinubu’s last-minute attempt to ‘buy Edo State’ come September 19, the sources who wouldn’t want their names mentioned, said: “The decision to mobilise the N8 billion was taken after Tinubu’s television broadcast, calling on Edo voters not to reelect Governor Godwin Obaseki, failed to sway Edo voters.
“Instead, the APC chieftain got a bloody nose from Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike on various social media platforms, who jeered at him for attempting to play the godfather in Edo politics,” the sources added.
Recall that Tinubu was in the news shortly after the 2019 general elections, over cash-carrying bullion vans seen at his home on the eve of the presidential election.
The armoured vehicles usually deliver large sums of money to banks. Tinubu’s action was widely condemned and was accused of violating Nigeria’s anti-money laundering laws.
Tinubu, who later admitted that the bullion vans were conveying money to his house, defended his action, and claimed he did nothing wrong because he was not a government official.
Signal unfavorable
The signal that Edo will not be easy exploit for the Garrison Commander of Lagos State politics has continued to indicate when opinion polls keep favouring Godwin Obaseki, the PDP governorship candidate, and people say although they will thumbprint for PDP/umbrella on the ballot paper but that personality and performance of Obaseki made it so and unchangeable.
The Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said Tuesday that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu cannot extend his political empire to Edo State as Edo people are determined to end the godfatherism in the state.
In statement issued in Benin City, the Edo State capital, Osagie said, “Our attention has been drawn to a television broadcast in which a former Lagos State Governor and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his quest to extend his political dominance and empire to Edo State, decided to take over the role of Edo people to choose through the ballot who to govern them for the next four years.”
Osagie noted: “It has become obvious that the spirited fight which Edo people have put up against godfatherism has sent tremors beyond the shores of Edo to the likes of Tinubu, who has for years sustained a stranglehold on Lagos and other states in South Western Nigeria, hence this desperate, last ditch effort to rescue the unproductive political instrument, now popularly referred to as godfatherism, with which he has feathered his nest and built his political empire at the expense of the people.”
