Edo 2020: ‘Follow the votes bumper to bumper’, Wike tells electorate

Rivers state Governor, Nyesom Wike, has urged the electorate in the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State, slated for September 19, 2020, to defend their votes.

The battle for the number one seat in Edo State became fierce after the rift between Governor Obaseki and his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole.

Obaseki defected from the All Progressives Congress(APC) to the people’s Democratic Party(PDP) after he was disqualified from the APC primary over a “defective” certificate.

Obaseki’s failure to be cleared for the APC primary and inability to secure the APC governorship ticket is believed to be engineered by Oshiomhole.

Osagie Ize-Iyanmu, who is said to enjoy the backing of Oshiomhole, eventually won the primary election.

Read Also: Edo: Where two wrongs make a right

Since Obaseki’s defection to the PDP there has been a raging war of words, between him and his erstwhile ally, Adams Oshiomhole

However, Obaseki has gained new allies following his defection to Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).

One of the prominent allies of Obaseki is Governor Wike of Rivers state who is a regular fixture on his campaign trail in Edo State.

Wike, however, in a viral video on Tuesday, while canvassing votes for Obaseki urged Edo people to defend their votes.

Wike said, “Learn from what happened in Rivers state and repeat it, here. All of you here; all the women, all the men, all the boys, all the girls. Everybody, wear your jeans. Nobody should wear skirts that day. Follow your votes, bumper to bumper”.

According to him, Denim trousers are comfortable and easy to wear which would enable even the women to defend their votes until a winner is announced.

People have expressed concerns over the forthcoming election in Edo because of the incendiary remarks from political actors of both major political parties in the state.

Even the international community has expressed concerns over the peaceful conduct of elections both in Edo and Ondo states.

The United States government has threatened to impose a visa ban on politicians involved in any form of election misconduct in both states.

The United Kingdom too, has followed suit. It said on Tuesday that apart from visa ban, assets of politicians found culpable of igniting violence during the two gubernatorial elections in Edo and Ondo, in their ‘domain’ will be seized.