Desmond Elliot, an actor-turn-politician, has tackled Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo state, saying that he shouldn\u2019t castigate godfatherism as he wouldn\u2019t be in power without it.<\/p>\n
The movie star, who contested and won the Surulere constituency in 2015, was speaking about his incursion into Nigeria\u2019s political scene during a recent interview ahead of Edo election.<\/p>\n
Elliot berated the governor for adopting \u201cEdo no be Lagos\u201d as his re-election mantra. He also described his own political career as being a product of godfatherism.<\/p>\n
\u201cA godfather always tries to look after the interest of his people. I\u2019m a product of godfatherism but Tinubu has never for one day asked me to do something you know would be detrimental,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s progressive. So, let him (Obaseki) not castigate the whole thing. If not for godfatherism, would he be where he is today? My point isn\u2019t even about him; it\u2019s that I want to talk about my candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Obaseki had begun to promote the slogan \u201cEdo no be Lagos\u201d after he ditched the All Progressives Congress (APC) to seek re-election under the platform of the People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP).<\/p>\n
Before defection, he met Bola Tinubu for endorsement as a candidate ahead of Edo gubernatorial election but the APC leader had referred him to the direct primaries endorsed by the party.<\/p>\n
After the governor went through the direct primaries as recommended, he was disqualified by the committee set-up by Adams Oshiomhole, his estranged godfather, who doubles as his predecessor.<\/p>\n
But since his defection to PDP, Obaseki\u2019s campaign strategy to attract votes from Edo people had touched on ending godfatherism, which he said is effective in Lagos but won\u2019t be tolerated in Edo.<\/p>\n
Speaking further, Elliot also laughed off the context of Obaseki\u2019s mantra that Edo won\u2019t be like Lagos, claiming the latter shielded the state from achieving the economic prosperity that Lagos has recorded.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when you say \u2018can not be\u2019, you\u2019re already putting a cover. And I\u2019m a spiritual person. You cannot say such things. We have pastors and Imams that will break the yoke,\u201d the actor added.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t say it won\u2019t be when Lagos makes an IGR of over 30 billion every month. You can\u2019t hear about unpaid salaries or pension. You see projects coming up, investors, and investment coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are the fifth-largest economy in Africa. So why will you say Edo can\u2019t be Lagos because you are trying to sell an idea? Let me tell you something, loyalty is important.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Desmond Elliot, an actor-turn-politician, has tackled Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo state, saying that he shouldn\u2019t castigate godfatherism as he wouldn\u2019t be in power without it. The movie star, who contested and won the Surulere constituency in 2015, was speaking about his incursion into Nigeria\u2019s political scene during a recent interview ahead of Edo election. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":126596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,15,2,4],"tags":[32,1722,16682,332,33109,51],"yoast_head":"\n