The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has said he denied the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Samuel Ogbemudia stadium for their campaign rally because the stadium is under warranty.
Newsonline reports that the governor said the Labour Party was not serious in their arrangement and application to use the stadium.
Governor Obaseki who stated this on Friday’s Politics programme of Channels TV, said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which he belongs to was allowed to use the stadium because it was the inauguration day.
Obaseki said, “Well, there are several venues in Benin for rallies, I heard that they applied on Wednesday night to hold a rally at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium on Friday morning, giving us one day’s notice.”
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He further added that “the tracks in that stadium are still under warranty. The pitch has to be maintained in a certain mode. So it is not just another facility you just can go in and use without preparing. If they knew they had a rally on Friday morning, why could not they give more time and notice so we could give them the conditions under which they could use the pitch.”
Speaking on why PDP used the Ogbemudia stadium, he said, “the same thing we did to the PDP when they wanted to use the pitch. And the only reason why we allowed the PDP rally was because it was used as an opportunity to commission that facility. Otherwise, most other rallies are held in other large grounds around the city.”
The Edo State governor called on the Labour Party to step up their preparations and be more serious. He said he did not deny Peter Obi the use of the stadium for political reasons. He added that he called him on the phone and welcomed him when he arrived the state and provided him with all security and all logistics needed to ensure smooth rally.
“I expected more from the Labour Party. I thought they were more serious, you cannot be planning for a rally on a Friday and be giving less than two days.
“I spoke to my friend Peter Obi the night before he told me he was coming to the state, and we offered him all the courtesy, including security and some logistics, but I did not know they were coming for rallies.
“For me, the issues did not even come to me. The people at the sports commission knew what to do, and they did it professionally,” Obaseki added.
Recall that the Labour Party Obidatti campaign organization director general, Doyin Okupe, alleged that the state government led by Governor Godwin Obaseki, denied the party its application to use the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium one hour to the starting of the event.
Labour Party had to use Baptist Church Camp Ground in Benin, Edo state for its presidential campaign rally on Friday.
