Sleeping On Duty: Photo Of Edo Gov, Obaseki Sleeping And Yawning During Proceedings At UN Sparks Anger
The governor merely succumbed to fatigue – Aide
Edo State Government and the Chairman of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Dan Orbih Wednesday traded words over the manner Governor Godwin Obaseki slept off during proceedings at the United Nations General Assembly.
The controversial photograph which went viral on social media and was being freely distributed in the main streets of the Edo state capital yesterday, Obaseki who accompanied President Muhammadu Buhari to New York was seen dozing off during the session which was in full swing.
Orbih who spoke at the Edo state PDP while receiving defectors from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said that instead of Obaseki to sit down in Edo state and tackle the problems facing the people, he was busy travelling around the world signing Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) which never see the light of the day.
At the ceremony which witnessed the defecting of a top APC member, Chief David Olukoga, the former Chairman of Edo state War Against Indiscipline, the PDP chairman advised Obaseki to wake up from his slumber and deliver on his promise of job creation to the army of unemployed Edo youths.
He said: “Obaseki wake up from your sleep. It is very embarrassing that Obaseki travelled to the UN Assembly in New York to sleep. Obaseki should wake up and address the issues affecting the state. He promised to create 200,000 jobs for Edo youths but has not created more than 200 jobs. There are bad roads. Instead of tackling the problems of Edo state, he is sleeping. This is no time to sleep. Obaseki, wake up!”
The Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy to Obaseki, Mr. Crusoe Osagie faulted the PDP chairman, insisting that the mischievous campaign was designed to smear the image of Obaseki.
Osagie lamented that the disparagers have populated the internet with photographs of the governor when he “momentarily succumbed to fatigue after a long flight, preceded by a chaotic itinerary in Edo State before heading to New York for the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.”
He said that the idle hands and mischievous minds behind the smear campaign against Obaseki are clearly not people to be taken seriously.
He said: “Despite Governor Obaseki’s rare work culture, unmatched by his peers, we have never portrayed him as a machine. He can experience fatigue and exhaustion, an indisputable fact of life, to which all humans are susceptible.”
Still in his defence, the Edo state governor’s spokesman said that those who are familiar with the daily work schedule of Obaseki have attested to his rare and unique work ethics, devoid of fanfare and trivialities.
He added that a cursory look at the governor’s itinerary between September 21 – 23rd, before he entered the UN meetings in New York, showed that he had a crowded schedule before travelling to the United States and as a human being, he merely succumbed to fatigue.metrowatchonline
