By Simon Ebegbulem, Benin-City
The projects of the Governor Adams Oshiomhole-led administration remain the key assets of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State governorship election rescheduled for September 28. Anyone who has been in Edo in the past twenty years will appreciate the strides made so far in building infrastructures and beautifying the cities in the state by this administration. However, in this campaign, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has tried to remind the people that there is hunger in town and that infrastructures cannot guarantee good life for the people. But the PDP’s record during its stay at Osadebey Avenue (Govt. House) for ten years is not helping matters.
The argument is that if the PDP had at least built one road, according to a APC leader, Charles Idahosa, the APC government would have started from a second road “but in this case nothing was met on ground as it is only now that Oshiomhole built the foundation for the future of Edo State”. It is, therefore, not surprising that the APC in the state made a mockery of the comments made by a former PDP governor of the state, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, during an occasion to celebrate the birthday of his father, the Esama of Benin, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion.
The former governor had declared: “The next governor will come from our political family and that person is Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. INEC can postpone the election but they cannot cancel it. I can assure you the result will remain the same. I made it clear before that the next governor will come from our political family. That has been my prayer. Come September 28, the margin of victory will be higher than if the election had held on September 10. Edo people should vote wisely. Be rest assured that the insults that have taken place since 2008 will stop. The brutalization of our psyche, of our women will stop. Unemployment of our youths will be a thing of the past. Lack of focus in education and sports sectors will be a thing of the past.
We are bringing in a PDP government that can represent the people, build human development and industries”. This was the first time the former governor will openly speak about the election even though he had been meeting with some APC leaders at night, stressing to them the need to vote Ize-Iyamu. Meanwhile, APC leaders have since been repeating the former governor’s declaration on television to remind the people that the same persons who, according to them, ruined Edo during PDP’s 10-yr-administration are battling to come back. Idahosa, who is Political Adviser to Oshiomhole, responded to Igbinedion’s declaration.
He said: “We are happy that at least the former governor is coming out to speak for his boy Ize-Iyamu in the open. We are happy because if you look at Ize-Iyamu’s programme, what he calls the SIMPLE Agenda, or his profile, you will never see anything associating him with the Igbinedions, he is never proud of them in the open but at the background he is their boy.
We are aware that Lucky Igbinedion has been going round the homes of APC leaders, begging them to help Ize-Iyamu as Oshiomhole has been abusing his father, so they must not allow Obaseki to come in. But why is it that he does not come out in the afternoon to campaign for Ize-Iyamu, why at night? But we are happy he brought himself out when he now declared his support that the next governor will come from their political family. But the question you people should ask him, this family do they have two heads? The last time the family produced a governor for the state, what did they do with that opportunity? But I think the former governor does not know that the politics of Edo has changed.
We have passed the stage where father, son and their god father at Uromi will hold this state to ransom, it will never happen. Lucky should come out and campaign for Ize-Iyamu in the open and not in his father’s bedroom. No amount of deceit will change the minds of our people and we cannot go back to Egypt. What they are thinking now is that the APC leaders they spoke to are working for them but they will be disappointed. Every APC leader they spoke to reported to the hierarchy of the party, both the people they promised heaven and earth. Lucky should ask why Ize-Iyamu is ashamed of associating with him in the open. At least our candidate Godwin Obaseki is proud to say he worked under Oshiomhole for seven and a half years, why is Ize-Iyamu not proud to say he started as Personal Assistant to Lucky Igbinedion? Our selling point is Oshiomhole’s works in Edo and we will beat PDP silly in this election”.
In a related development, residents of Second East Circular, Benin City, and leaders in areas described as abandoned before the coming of Oshiomhole, backed the aspiration of Obaseki, saying their support was due to the work done in their areas by the APC- led administration. The rich living in the Government Reserved Areas (GRA) may not be happy with the governor but the middle class and the poor in the densely populated areas of Isunhoru, Ihenye Upper Siluko, Second East Circular, Upper Sakpoba, all in Benin City, are happy with the APC and the Comrade Governor and that, to a large extent, gives Obaseki the edge over other candidates in this election. The joy of these residents was obvious last Tuesday, when Oshiomhole, the APC candidate in the Edo poll, Obaseki, inspected ongoing work at the second East Circular Road which is now a dual carriage road.
A resident, Mr Yusuf Abdulrazak, who spoke on behalf of others, said, “We don’t encounter flooding here again. My car used to break down along this road, and I was always going to the mechanic for repairs which made me spend a lot of money. Now, I don’t spend money on such repairs anymore. You must finish this work that you have started. Last week, we organised a rally at this junction here, and we danced and jubilated. We are all for Godwin Obaseki, his government will be a continuation of the government of Oshio Baba which gave us this beautiful road.”
Oshiomhole told the residents that “this is the first time we will be having this kind of road”. He went on: “You have a road, you have a walkway, and you have drain underneath. It has never happened in this city before. We are going to put street lights. We have been listening to our opponents who are telling lies everywhere. They are saying that the Comrade and his deputy are fighting. How can we fight? We are not boxers. We are working as brothers and will continue to work as brothers. And you people must help to explain to the ordinary people that the high cost of living is not within the control of the state government. The state government has no hand in the price of foodstuff in the market.
But the state government must build schools, pay teachers, must provide hospitals, must construct roads, and must provide drainage. If you watch television, you would see the kind of flooding that is taking place everywhere, but Benin is not like what it used to be like that, but because of the drainages we have done. So, you have to explain to the people. By the grace of God, we want to do more roads like this in this City because we need to transform Benin completely. That is the second phase for Godwin, in addition to employment creation so that the youths will have jobs. We also need to provide for the elderly. Godwin is not coming to learn how to govern. For eight years, we worked together. Now that he has graduated, he will do better than me.”
Also speaking, Obaseki said, “You have seen that Comrade Governor has really worked. We have constructed roads and built schools. What is left is job creation. I will bring industries. Before I can bring industries, you need to vote for me to become governor first. You have to mobilise and go from street to street, telling everybody to come out with their PVC on the day of election to vote.” The governor and the APC candidate went on the road walk with their wives, Lara Oshiomhole and Betsy Obaseki.
Separately, National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) endorsed Obaseki as the next governor of Edo to continue with the development strides of Oshiomhole. General-Secretary of the union, Comrade Issa Aremu, at the Annual National Education Conference of the union in Benin City, said: “I want to say, I want to confirm, I want to reaffirm that Edo is working and Edo has worked. National Union of Textile Garment has affirmed, confirmed and reaffirmed continuity in Edo State and we have endorsed the candidature of Godwin Obaseki.”
Also speaking, the President of National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), Comrade John Adaji, commended Oshiomhole for the enormous progress he has made in infrastructural development.
He said, “We are proud that the public critical acknowledgement of the enormous progress recorded in Edo under the watchful eyes of Comrade Adams in the development of education, infrastructure, road construction, reconstruction of hospitals and general improvement in the health infrastructure. In particular, we were deeply concerned about human capital development and the welfare of workers. His administration has not only continued to pay salaries as and when due but equally the first governor to single-handedly have the minimum wage adjusted to twenty-five thousand naira. We are glad that the Comrade has done well to justify the confidence of Edo people.”
Obaseki thanked the Textile workers for endorsing him asserting “I want to assure you that by the grace of God, I will not disappoint you. We see Edo as the next haven for the garment industry because we have laid the basis for industrialisation. With gas and electricity available here, we are sure that Edo State will be the headquarters of the garment industry. As part of our micro-medium development fund, I am committing today that we will set aside a hundred million naira, not seventy-five and from Monday, I will want to have a meeting with whoever is in charge in the union so that we can commence the process of disbursement.”
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