Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) revived his political career, following his exit from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Obaseki made the disclosure yesterday at the PDP National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Abuja, shortly after receiving his Certificate of Return from the National Chairman, Uche Secondus, as the opposition party governorship candidate in the September 19 Edo gubernatorial poll.

The governor, who was also given the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nomination form for the forthcoming election, expressed gratitude to members of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC), PDP governors and other leaders of the party across the country for rallying round him and his deputy, Philip Shaibu, in their trying times.

This is coming as Obaseki named Shaibu as his running mate for the September 19 governorship poll in the state, saying, “You don’t change a winning team.”

Obaseki defected to the PDP after he was disqualified from participating in the APC governorship primary.  He emerged the governorship candidate last Thursday, after other aspirants withdrew from the contest.

The choice of who becomes Obaseki’s running mate in the September 19 polls was a thorny issue in the negotiations between the governor and leaders of the Edo PDP prior to his defection to the opposition party.

Obaseki expressed optimism that he would win the September 19 poll for the opposition party as the people of the state had assured that they would go wherever he goes.

His words: “My deputy and I are very grateful to this great party. Like I said, you will never know what God has destined for you. In our hour of tribulation, when we were pushed out in the rain and storm from our former political party, you came out with that huge umbrella to give us cover and shelter.

“It was only when we entered the house, that we then realised that this was the house we should have been in the first instance. Because we now saw that the values in the house are the values we cherish and the values we live for -values of justice, values of law and order, values of care for our people, putting the people first. These are the values we have always been in pursuit of, which we found in this new house in which we have been graciously accommodated.”

Furthermore, Obaseki said: “I want to commit to you that in line with the ideal and motto of this party, me and my deputy, who is going to be my running mate, for the September 19 election, because you do not change a winning team, we shall promote the ideals of this great party and you can always count on us.