My Second Term is Done Deal, Says Obaseki

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has alluded to his insistence on fighting inherent corruption in the system as the major cause of challenges experienced by his governmemt.

Speaking to a teeming audience of Edo indigenes at a Town Hall meeting in Lagos on Sunday, Obaseki said, “This is why I am having problems. A situation where I refuse to build one kilometre of road for over $3 million is not acceptable, when I can build three roads for that amount. Then they accuse me of bringing contractors from Lagos. That is not true. The truth is that in Edo, under my administration my road contracts are priced such that the profit is very good, but not outrageous. My profit margins are tight. I do not have contracts that you collect and then sell to another person. If you are not the one building the road yourself, you can’t collect contract from me. That is why they are fighting me. The boys who are executing the contracts have always been in the system, but they did not have political access. I have not hired any new contractor since I came to office. All the contracts are executed by Edo indigenes. They are the same ones I met on the ground, but we have reviewed the way we relate with them because there is no money to throw around. We have interrogated the system That is the difference.”

He said the problem of Edo State was not with resources, but leadership. According to him, “Successive governments have been shortsighted. The military governors did not know when the next coup will be and the politicians only think of the next election, but by the grace of God, I am not thinking of the next election because that is already a done deal. That is why I am