Defection Rumours: I can’t return to where I was pushed out – Obaseki

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state has squashed rumors of planning to return to the All Progressives Congress (APC) where he was first elected.

Obaseki gave the reassurance on Wednesday October 13, while addressing State House correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Maintaining that he did not leave the APC on his own terms, he stated that he won’t be leaving the People’s Democratic Party which gave him succor when he was in need. Obaseki also stressed that he has a conscience and also a politician with integrity.

He said;

“I think I’ve shown that I’m a politician with integrity and I have made it very clear that I didn’t leave the other party on my own, I was pushed out of the party, and someone else gave me cover, gave me an opportunity.

“It will not be the right thing to do to now leave who helped you, who gave you the umbrella in your storm, and then go back to the person who pushed you out.”

Commenting on the senate’s decision to allow the Independent and National Electoral Commission to transmit election results electronically, Obaseki noted that he was able to win his re-election campaign due to the deployment of technology.

He said;

“If not for the technology utilised by INEC, and God, I may not be governor today. So, I am one of those people who believe that we cannot and should not have elections in this country, going into the future, without transmitting results electronically from the polling units, because for elections to be credible, they have to be seen as transparent and once you have voted, you should be assured that your vote will count.

“With technology today, it is possible and INEC has shown it from my elections, that as soon as you voted, and the results have been counted in the polling units, then that result should be made available, such that you already know what you expect to be collated at the ward collation points.

“What has happened in many cases in the past is that people go and vote, the votes are counted in the polling units, they know, but by the time it gets to the collation point, it changes.

“But this time around, because of the transparency, everybody will see and know what they are expecting to be collated from the polling units. That is what happened in my election.

“So, I am a very strong advocate for electronic transmission of results from elections and I want to also note that from my personal experience, INEC has the capacity, INEC has the technology, and also the understanding of how these things should work. So, they should be encouraged. I hope and pray that the President will assent to that bill.”