PRESS RELEASE: CALL FOR THE IMMEDIATE QUARANTINE OF GOVERNOR GODWIN OBASEKI AND ALL PRESENT AT HIS DEFECTION RALLY OVER VIOLATION OF SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES AND OTHER HEALTH GUIDELINES

Governor Godwin Obaseki exercised his right of assembly to join a political party by completing his defection to the PDP today.

While we note interestingly that this is the same right the Governor, in his usual autocracy and abuse of power, tried to deny Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu last year when he returned to the All Progressives Congress through the sponsorship of physical and media attacks, and the institution of baseless court cases, we, as democrats and staunch believer in the rule of law, unlike Godwin Obaseki, hold nothing against it.

However, we observed with great concern the dangerous and reckless actions of the Governor and his supporters at the venue of his defection. Without any observance of the social distancing rules, or the use of face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Mr. Godwin Obaseki assembled hundreds of Edo youths that his administration failed to gainfully engage following his failure to create 200,000 jobs as promised, and assigned them the demeaning task of singing his praises at great risk to their health during a pandemic.

Obaseki in entourage to PDP headquarters

Apart from violating the guidelines of the Presidential Task-Force on COVID-19 on social gathering, Mr. Godwin Obaseki also openly disregarded the stipulations of his ill-conceived gazette which, among other things, held that no gathering of more than 20 persons shall take place in a single location.

Consequently, to protect the people of the State and ensure that the work of the Federal Government in curbing the spread of the viral disease is not undone by the irresponsibility of a vain Governor who prioritizes politics over public health and human lives, we call on the Nigeria Police Force and other relevant security agencies to aid the Nigeria Center for Disease Control in the commencement of an immediate identification, tracing, and arrest of everyone present at the event for immediate quarantine at nearby isolation centers.

Failure to do this may put in jeopardy the integrity of the fight against COVID-19 and make a mockery of the efforts and sacrifice of frontline health workers and other important stakeholders.