By Patricia Omoruyi
The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has urged Christian pilgrims from the State to pray for God’s intervention to enable Nigerians to make the right decision in the 2023 general elections.
The Governor gave this charge as he bade farewell to the pilgrims at the Benin Airport on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, in the company of the First Lady, Mrs Betsy Obaseki, and the Chief of Staff, Hon Toni Iyoha, while commending the Chairman of the Edo State Christian Pilgrims Board for the sanity his leadership has brought to the Board.
“I want to use this opportunity to thank the Chairman of the Board for the sanity you have brought. In the past, one major concern we had as a government was the level of absconding, during such pilgrimages but in the last few pilgrimages, Edo State has been hailed for having no incident of absconding of pilgrims” the Governor noted.
Addressing the pilgrims who are traveling to Israel and Jordan, Obaseki urged them to be worthy ambassadors of Nigeria and Edo State.
“My message to you this morning is that you are ambassadors of Edo State and Nigeria, you are going to perform a holy function and this is a very serious obligation,” he said.
Speaking about the crucial elections billed for February 25th and March 11th, 2023, Obaseki noted that the result of the election is crucial to Nigeria, urging them to intercede for Edo State, Nigeria, and its leadership.
He said: “You are undertaking this exercise a week before an election that is going to be quite decisive for us as a country.
“I’m here to urge all of you to please pray for us, pray for our country and pray for our State, and pray for the leadership of this country so that God will touch our hearts and make us make the right decision for the progress of our country.”
The Chairman of the Board, Bishop Oyonnude Kure, commended Mr Obaseki for his leadership of the State, noting that the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), has hailed the State for not recording any case of absconding pilgrims under Obaseki’s leadership.
“Before your administration, the board suffered absconding, but since your administration, there has been none to the point where the Nigerian Pilgrims Commission had to write a letter of commendation to hail Edo State,” he said.
