The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, on Wednesday, swore in the newly appointed Special Advisers, charging them on the need to proactively address misinformation and misrepresentation by the opposition as the 2024 governorship election nears.
Obaseki, who said the government has in the last seven years undertaken bold and transformative programmes and projects across various sectors of the state to improve the livelihoods of the people and ensure economic prosperity for the state, urged the appointees to go beyond the noise created by the opposition and present the facts in a clear, concise and convincing manner.
He said, “Today, I congratulate and welcome my new political disciples. I have no Judas among them because some of them have severed with us as political advisers; we are just renewing their term. We have nine new political advisers responsible for the nine federal constituencies in Edo State.
“It is politics time and I thought about it, to look for our generals, tried and trusted, and we have many of them in our State. Over the last seven years, we have discharged our duties creditably to the people of Edo State.
“It’s on record that we have accomplished every record and goal we set out to do for our people. You can’t accuse this administration of failure because we have done our best to improve the lives of our people. Your goal is to set the narrative right. We can’t solve every problem as the party must continue in the State.
“You must go out there to change the narrative of the opposition making noise about what we have not done and what they should have done and didn’t do; put things in proper perspectives.”
Obaseki continued: “In the last seven years, we have constructed almost 1,500km of roads. They can’t build roads but want to blame us for the roads they can’t build. We have cared for children in the State as we have over 400,000 in our care receiving quality education.
“We have revamped the healthcare system in the State, built our primary healthcare system, and made our citizens access health insurance so that they can access cheap healthcare. We must tell the people. We have done what no government has done in Africa and West Africa.
“We have connected every part of the State with fiber optic cables and have prepared the State for the next industrial revolution.”
In other sectors of the state’s economy, Obaseki said his administration has also recorded tremendous success.
He said the government also embarked on an agricultural revolution, noting that almost 100,000 hectares of new land are under cultivation, “a feat many governments can’t achieve,” Obaseki added.
The governor further stated, “Our politics is politics of truth where we show the people the evidence of things done for the betterment of the citizens of Edo State.
“I brought you in now because we are finishing the game and you are the finishing team, and Edo must continue to be PDP as we have turned our party around in the State. Our party controls Edo at the ward, local, and State levels and we will demonstrate it at the poll.”
He added, “The SSAs must report to you on a weekly basis to know what is going on in each constituency. You must give me feedback and we must sell our messages to our people, letting them know that the suffering in the State is not a creation of PDP or our governor.
“We have done a lot of things to ameliorate the suffering of Edo people. God forbid that the people who created hardship and suffering in the State have legs to stand on in the next election in Edo State, it will be a disaster. We have suffered enough and trying to get Edo State out of the crisis they have put us in. We know that they have grand plans to bring in the stolen money to try and purchase Edo and it will not happen, no opposition can pull us back.”
Responding on behalf of the newly inaugurated Special Advisers, Dr. Philomena Ihenyen said, “We are your disciples. We are your foot soldiers and will do our best and take charge of our different local governments and ensure you finish well. We are taking this appointment as a challenge as we will deliver to ensure you finish well and the party produces the next governor of the State come 2024.”
