EDO POLL: I’m not scared of Ize-Iyamu, I even won him when I had no track record –Obaseki

Ahead of the Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship election primary, Governor Godwin Obaseki has said he had no reason to be afraid of his major rival, Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

Obaseki, who appeared on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, said having beaten Ize-Iyamu in the same race when he had no track record, that now as a governor with a track record, he saw no reason to be scared of him.

Ize-Iyamu had contested as the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against Obaseki in Edo governorship poll four years ago.

He joined the APC in 2019 and is believed to have been anointed by the national chairman of the APC and a former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole to replace Obaseki.

However, Obaseki, when asked if he was scared of Ize-Iyamu, said:

“Why should I be? The last time I contested, he was my opponent from the PDP and the votes are there.

“I beat him (even without track record as a governor) and now with the track record as a governor, I don’t have any fears.”

On the party’s decision to adopt a direct mode of primary poll, Obaseki said he was not opposed to it.

He, however, said it was necessary that the health risks the method poses be considered, looking at the current situation where the state had recorded hundreds of COVID-19 cases.

In an event he is defeated, Obaseki assured he would support whoever emerges as the party’s candidate but only if the process was free, transparent, and credible.

On the crisis rocking the state’s APC due to his rift with his predecessor, Oshiomhole, Obaseki said:

“Conversations are on so that we can build internal peace and harmony within our party; I do not have a rift with him as a person.

“I just do not agree with some decisions he (Oshiomhole) is taking as it relates to the party, they are not in the interest of our party.”