Edo State Governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo has claimed that Governor Godwin Obaseki has bolted from the state in disguise to avoid arrest.
In a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday and signed by Godspower Inegbe, Okpebholo said the reckless statements by Obaseki were meant to divert attention to enable him leave the country.
“As of Friday, 8th of November, the whereabouts of Obaseki is unknown. He has chased everyone out of Edo State Government House. He has abandoned governance in the State, and he is on the run.
“He has escaped through the road out of Benin. He did not pass through the airport. If he is as popular as he claims, why did he not use the airport to escape? Instead, he hired a bus and disguised while escaping from Edo State.
“Obaseki is trying to push out these narratives in order to distract the public. His antics will not work. We know his plans, and we will continue to expose his shenanigans to Edo people,” the statement added.
Obaseki, on Saturday, claimed that Okpebholo did not invite him to his inauguration, slated for Tuesday.
Okpebholo dismissed Obaseki’s claims that the election was not won by the governor-elect.
“In his usual myopic mind, he wants to change the narratives and set a dangerous precedent,” Okpebholo noted in a statement, adding that he won the elections convincingly.
The governor-elect advised Obaseki to stop running and come back to answer to his misdeeds while in government.
“Obaseki will soon lose his immunity and if he continues to make his baseless claims, he will face the full wrath of the law very soon and he will prove his unfounded allegations when he is dragged to court,” Okpebholo warned in the statement.
Reacting to another claim by Obaseki that he was not invited to attend the inauguration slated for Tuesday, Okpebholo described it as laughable, absurd, and questionable.
He said that since he won the election, Obaseki has employed every means to frustrate a peaceful transfer of power, adding that Obaseki has not find it fit to extend any invitation to him for a meeting or a tour of the Government House.
