A group, Akoko-Edo Development Union has said Monday’s appointment of Omobayo Godwins as the new deputy governor of Edo State is a mere placeholder strategy that would not give Akoko-Edo and Edo North any developmental value in the remaining five months of the Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration.
Its president, Chief Segun Amode, made the assertion yesterday in Abuja, in a reaction to Obaseki’s choice of Godwins as his deputy after the impeachment of Philip Shaibu from Etsako West local government area.
Godwins, his successor hails from Akoko Edo local government area, which is described as one of the largest councils in Nigeria.
But Amode declared that the people of Akoko-Edo would not celebrate the appointment of Godwins as deputy governor because Obaseki was only using it to seek votes from Akoko-Edo in the September 2024 governorship election.
Amode further stated that, “Obaseki may have been tired of using roads to deceive Akoko-Edo people each election season.
He said, “In every election period, the governor will award our roads and bring bulldozers to the site.”
“After the elections, we will not see the bulldozers again until after four years. Now he is using another style by appointing our son for a five-month tenure as Deputy Governor.”
“He knows our people are waiting for him to ask about the roads that he awarded eight years and four years ago. Our schools do not have teachers as we speak.
Many of us are the ones employing and paying teachers in our schools in Akoko-Edo just to sustain the education of our children.
He further stated that Omobayo will only be deputy governor until November this year which will not bring anything to Akoko-Edo or Edo north.
“Since Governor Obaseki was always complaining that the APC-led federal government was not cooperating with him to repair our roads, we have made our minds to align with the central government so that our roads and other infrastructure can reach us,” he stated.
The Edo State House of Assembly on Monday impeached Shaibu as deputy governor of the state.
Obaseki immediately sworn in Mr. Omobayo Godwins to replace Philip Shuaibu.
Godwins was a candidate for the House of Representatives during the 2023 general elections under the Labour Party, which he lost.
