The state caretaker chairman of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Edo State, Col David Imuse Rtd. has called on Gov Godwin Obaseki to immediately resign from office over security challenges in the state.

In a statement, Col Imuse alleged that Obaseki had run out of ideas on how to govern the state.

According to him, the call has become necessary because the Governor is failing in his duty of protecting the lives of Edo people, he has shown gross disregard for the rule of law and his personal interest is clashing with his official interest.

‘He has failed in duty to uphold his oath of office to protect the lives and properties of Edo citizens, his penchant for disobeying court orders and his decision to plunge Edo state into more indebtedness with his recent clandestine borrowing of N25 billion from the capital market as the reasons for his call’

‘No one is safe in Edo. The state is under siege. We have a governor who has lost focus. Fear and insecurity have become the order of the day, yet the Governor takes N700 million monthly as security vote. And so far he has not been able to deploy this huge amount to mobilise the security agencies in the state to fight criminality”.

On the recent ruling by Benin high court, Col Imuse noted that the governor does not have an iota of respect for the judicial and legislative arms of government or the rule of law but regularly runs to the courts on the most frivolous of excuses.

‘A court recently ruled that the duly elected chairman of Etsako East Local Government Council who was illegally removed from office should go back to his seat. But the Governor, in disobedience of the Court, mobilised thugs to seal up the entrance of the Council Secretariat at Agenebode, denying the Chairman access’

‘Because Edo state is designed to be governed by relevant laws”, Col Imuse said, “Edo APC is ready to take the bull by the horns, as it can no longer condone a governor who has no regard for the rule of law”.

The Edo APC Chairman who also blamed Governor Obaseki for making Edo the third most indebted state in the country wondered why he would clandestinely resort to borrowing the sum of N25 billion from the capital market without telling Edo people.

‘This loan is unacceptable to Edo people and Governor Obaseki must urgently return it or cancel it outrightly because it is to be repaid by Edo taxpayers and to make matters worse, his own company, Afrinvest is the stockbroker for the facility. This action of the governor is not only illegal, there is a clash of interest he added.