Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday congratulated Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, urging him to be magnanimous in victory.
In a statement by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo urged the governor to use his second tenure to deepen the people’s faith in democracy and improve their living standard.
“No doubt, the outcome of the elections that have taken place so far broadly reflects the choice of the Nigerians who have, by their conduct, visibly demonstrated that they value our present democracy and will do their utmost to make it work.
“I urge you, therefore, to reciprocate their trust by doing everything you can to strengthen their faith in democracy and in its ability to bring about improved material conditions and better service delivery.
“I also count on your support of well-meaning Nigerians like me in our quest for national peace, stability and economic development and trust that you will play an active and visible role in our pursuit of these noble and desirable objectives,” Obasanjo said.
Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle described Obaseki’s victory as a triumph of democracy.
“I am not surprised at the outcome of this election considering your overwhelming acceptance by our party members in the last primary elections which I conducted for the party in Benin,” he said.
All Progressives Congress (APC)c and former governorship candidate in Imo State, Uche Nwosu, praised President Muhamamadu Buhari for laying the foundation for a credible poll.
Nwosu also lauded the neutrality of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), adding that the electoral umpire has shown that it can conduct a free and fair election if it is determined.
“I congratulate Edo people for standing firm and proving doom-mongers wrong, by disposing themselves responsibly, yet steadfastly, which ensured the peaceful conduct of the elections,” he said.
Former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, commended the international community for reigning in perpetrators of electoral fraud with the announcement of visa ban and other sanctions, which reminded them of consequences of compromising the Edo governorship election.
In a statement by his Principal Private Secretary, Muhammad Inuwa Ali, he observed that the timely advice by the United States and the United Embassies in Nigeria prevented the “merchants of election malpractice and perpetrators of electoral violence from plying their trade in the Edo election”.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ondo State, Mr Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), expressed personal joy at the Obaseki’s victory.
Jegede in a statement in Akure, the state capital, said the result was a manifestation of the people’s conviction that the PDP is the credible alternative, which can provide good governance for the people.
“I express personal joy at the victory of Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State; particularly for the fact that it symbolised Nigerians’ disenchantment with the ensuing poor leadership under the APC and their conviction that a PDP government is the credible alternative,” he said.