WE are very aware of the responsibilities bestowed on us. It is, of course, the greatest honour that can come to any political party in a democracy.
We will strive unceasingly to try to fulfil the trust and confidence that the Edo people have placed on our government and party.
Why did we win? I think it is because we knew what we stood for, we said what we stood for, and we stuck by what we stood for and It resonated with Edo people!
We are a successful government leading a successful state. And I’m often asked what’s the secret. It’s really quite simple. What we have done is to re-establish at the heart of Edo politics a handful of simple truths while recognizing that we serve at the pleasure of Edo people.
Far be it for me to deride the sinner that repenteth. The trouble is that some persons want the benefit of repentance without renouncing the original sin. Serve the people not a godfather!
Under the leadership of Governor Godwin Obaseki, we now have a new Edo, confident, optimistic, sure of its economic strength – Edo to which foreigners and non-natives come to admire, to invest, yes and to imitate.
And I know with every fibre of my being that it would be fatal for us just to stand where we are now. Of course, we secure what we’ve achieved. But we move on – applying our principles and beliefs to even more challenging grounds. For our purpose as Government is to extend opportunity – and choice – to those who have so far have been denied them.
I would just like us to remember some words of St. Francis of Assisi which I think are really just particularly apt at the moment. ‘Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope’.
To all Edo people—howsoever they voted—may I say this. Now that the election is over, may we get together and strive to serve and strengthen our Edo Nation of which we’re so proud to be a part.
God bless Edo State
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
