OBASEKI AND PDP's WICKED PLOT TO PROCURE A COURT ORDER TO STOP APC AND IT'S CANDIDATE PASTOR OSAGIE IZE-IYAMU FROM PARTICIPATING IN THE SEPTEMBER 19, 2020, GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION IN EDO STATE :
A CALL FOR JUDICIAL CAUTION.
~Samson R. Osagie, Esq
Ahead of the September 19, governorship election in Edo State, the PDP and its emergency candidate Godwin Obaseki have ran out of ideas, as their campaigns loses traction with thousands of their members abandoning their sinking ship.
Perturbed by the reality of imminent and unavoidable defeat, they have gone on their kneels groveling before one of the South South Governors and a PDP godfather who describe the National leadership of their party as tax collectors to assist them procure a frivolous court order that will prevent the APC and its formidable candidate Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu from participating in the September 19 gubernatorial election in Edo State.
As a matter of fact two Senior Lawyers in Benin one in Edo State public service and the other in private practice have been given matching orders to liaise with another prominent Senior lawyer in Lagos to urgently seek for injunctive orders against the APC candidate by all means possible. This step is been backed by the payment of several millions of dollars and billions of naira by Governor Obaseki to the Lawyers and the PDP godfather in the south south.
As part of measures to achieve this unholy and devilish mission Obaseki having obtain assurance from the PDP's godfather in Port Harcourt has been junketing from one judicial division to the other seeking for pliable judges to assist him with an order based on frivolous and unmeritorious application against the APC and its candidate. This is why he is not campaigning or funding the PDP campaign, a situation which is alleged to have created a rift between him and his Deputy.
No wonder their media hirelings have been posting what looks like messages intended to prepare the mind of the public as to what they intend to achieve. In one of the Post a certain Jack Obiyan, Special Assistant to Governor Obaseki twitted that the suspended former State Chairman Anselm Ojezua as saying '' APC has no candidate''. The PDP godfather during their ill-fated flag off campaign in one of the changing rooms at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium re - echoed same.
Unfortunately, for the embattled party that sold its governorship and Deputy governorship tickets to Obaseki and his Deputy for several billions of Edo taxpayers money, many heads of courts across the country have issued stern warnings to judicial officers to refrain from entertaining frivolous politically motivated litigations aimed at derailing the democratic process which has characterized the Obaseki misadventure in Edo State governance since 2016.
Let it be known that Anselm Ojezua and Godwin Obaseki are living in fool's paradise for assuming that they could put spanner in the works of the Edo APC from regaining its control of government in Edo State come November 12, 2020.
The APC gubernatorial primaries which Anselm Ojezua claims did not produce a candidate was ratified by the National Executive Committee which held in the Presidential Villa and which he virtually attended, albeit erroneously. How he now claim that after the ratification of the primaries which produced Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the party still has no candidate is a matter Mr President and the National Caretaker Committee of the APC must invoke serious disciplinary measures against by expelling Anselm Ojezua from the party.
It is no longer news that Anselm Ojezua and a few party chairmen at the LGA levels in Edo State are refusing to decamp with Obaseki to PDP with the intention of sabotaging the APC in the next election.
They will fail!!!
It is therefore important to state that Nigerian courts must be wary of the suits which are been filed with the aim of derailing the democratic processes in Edo State so as not to create a constitutional crisis as the tenure of the incumbent governor expires midnight of November 11(my birthday) and Edo people are not prepared to renew the mandate.
Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, candidate of the APC has undoubtedly fulfilled all legal requirements including incontrovertible academic qualifications and compliance with every statutory provisions spelt out in the Nigerian Constitution, the APC constitution and the electoral Act under which INEC has issued its guidelines.
Consequently, any order seeking to stop the APC candidate from participating in the forthcoming gubernatorial elections in Edo State can only be a product of judicial compromise and we are confident that the Nigerian judiciary will not lend itself to such an ignoble mission.
Let us warn the PDP godfather in the south south oil rich state that the APC is fully aware of his boasts to use the judiciary to achieve this unholy mission as he did to APC in Rivers State in 2019. By God grace and under God no weapon fashioned by him and his God son Godwin Obaseki shall succeed and Obaseki shall lose shamelessly to Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.
Needless to emphasize that the people of Edo State have accepted the SIMPLE AGENDA of the APC and its candidate and they are very prepared to run with it to guarantee security, quality infrastructure, Manpower development, public private partnership, leadership by example and employment cum empowerment. This SMART program is Specific, Measurable, Achievable , Realistic and Time bound so much so that Edo people can hold the APC government of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu accountable to it. On the contrary, the Obaseki government has no discernable agenda except bogus and incomprehensible litany of failed promises. Edo People cannot continue with his deceitful and hypocritical administration.
The task to reclaim Edo from the PDP tenant on September 19 is already a forgone conclusion and the Courts must exercise utmost circumspection not to yield to any unpatriotic, undemocratic, frivolous and vexatious applications relating to Edo elections particularly applications for injunctive reliefs against the APC and its candidate.
Finally, the Chief Justice of Nigeria should prevail on all superior courts of record to excercise utmost discretion and restraints in matters relating to Edo State governorship election before, during and after the election without prejudice to their powers to entertain post elections petitions.
Edo State is APC, and it's people have decided to elect Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and Mallam Gani Audu as the next Governor and Deputy Governor.
No more, No less.
~~~~Hon Samson Osagie is a former Minority Whip of the House of Representatives and the Coordinator, APC Campaign Council in charge of Edo South Senatorial District
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