Ebonyi state governor, Engr. David Umahi has assured Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki that no man can remove him from office as governor come this 2020 guber election in the state.
Umahi disclosed this on Friday while receiving wives of Southern Governors forum who paid him a courtesy call at the Government House Executive Chambers, Abakaliki.
He said that no matter the wrangling that Obaseki will come out victorious.
“Power belongs to God and no matter what anybody will do is God that has the final say and I can assure you Ma, you know as an apostle of the most High God I also prophesy. And because of the good work your husband is doing for the people of Edo State no man can unseat him.”
“I made this statement so that the glory of God will become larger. It happened here in Ebonyi. I have a testimony of what God can do. Even in our NEC meeting, when Obaseki speaks, you see economics.
“You see a man that came from private sector background. And so, we cant wish that away. So, congratulations to you in advance and to all of us. You know the governors;
“We have so many elections. First is the primary, second one is the poll, and then the third one is the tribunal. Then another one is the appeal and then the election of the elections is the Supreme Court.
“So, it is not an easy thing and if the hand of God is not upon you, you cant scale through all these hurdles. And so, it is God who has brought all of us to leadership and I say double congratulations to all of us,” he stated.
Umahi further charged president Buhari to stop media trial in his fight against corruption; rather, he should more proactive.
He maintained that Transparency International rated Nigeria very low in the fight against corruption because of the tactics used in the fight and called for a change of tactics.
“Mr. President has done quite a lot in the fight against corruption but we need to change tactics, we need to stop media trial, we need to do more of proactive kind of fighting corruption than reactive.
“The challenges we face are not peculiar to Nigeria alone, when the transparency international rated Nigeria very low in fighting corruption, its not because we are as corrupt as they said, it is because our handlers need to change in the tactics of fighting corruption and this is what the transparency international is talking”, he advised.
He also commended Aisha Buhari for bringing the women together adding that it really shows her love for the country. He encouraged the women to follow the footsteps of the Presidents wife.
“Let me use this opportunity to commend the mother of the country, she is a very good mother, a passionate woman, in all honesty she has love for Nigeria. She is a woman that doesn’t want to know were someone is coming from, if you are from PDP or APC she does not want to know the political party you are coming from, I want to thank her for bringing you together.
“So far you continue to be together, it creates a greater coalition for the governors in this country. Governors are very important for the unity and oneness of this nation. We are passing through a very difficult time, quite challenging time but through her (Aisha Buhari) and you people (The Governors wives) we are able to weather the storm and we are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel”, stated.
The governor also reiterated that any governor that castigates President Buhari should have a mental check.
“Mr. President has been very good to us, he is not partisans at all, and that is why we continue to support him and any governor that castigates the president should have his head examined, Umahi”.
Meanwhile, the chairperson of Southern Governors Wives Forum and wife of Edo state Governor, Mrs. Besty Obaseki hinted that Mrs. Buhari instituted the Association when she came into power in 2015 with the aim of establishing a formidable collaboration among the governors wives and bringing ideas that will help their states.
She stated: “The First lady when she came onboard and met the association of wives of Northern Governors, she decided to establish this.
“The whole essence is for us to impact, to collaborate, to interact, to bring new ideas to assist our husbands.
“The main focus of this meeting is to support our sister in what she is doing and participate in empowerment. This is the way to create impact amongst ourselves.
“The whole initiative of the platform is to form strong bond in leadership amongst us” she said.
However, out of the seventeen States that make up the forum, ten was present at the time of the courtesy visit.
They were Mrs. Besty Obaseki of Edo state, who is the chairperson of the forum, Mrs. Rachel Umahi of Ebonyi State, who is the vice chairman, Mrs. Monica Ugwuanyi- Enugu State, Mrs. Edith Okowa- Delta State, Mrs. Nkechinyere Ikpeazu- Abia State, Mrs. Martha Udom Emmanuel- Akwa Ibom State, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi- Ekiti State, Mrs. Kafayat Oyetola – Osun State, Mrs. Linda Ayade- Cross State, and Mrs. Esther Makinde- Oyo state
