By Comrade Orobosa Omo-Ojo
With exactly 21 days to the watershed governorship election in Edo State, the All Progressives Congress is glad to tell Nigerians that Edo people have demonstrated their unequivocal decision to take back the state from the present political bandits that have plundered their commonwealth.
Their resolve is strengthened by the infrastructural decay across the state which has exacerbated the socioeconomic crises, caused by wanton neglect of the rural dwellers.
Therefore, Edo people can only score Governor Godwin Obaseki and his People’s Democratic Party with the works done or undone in tangible pillars such as roads, schools, hospitals, agriculture, land administration, culture, and relationship with our treasured traditional institutions when they will be casting their votes for freedom on September 21, 2024.
They will not be confounded about their difficulties and dangers they are presently facing or be deceived about the prosperity they enjoyed during the eight years of APC administration under the leadership of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. They will rationalize these glaring contrast on September 21, 2024 to reclaim and reset Edo to the past glory that APC attained in state.
The statement made by our State Chairman, Emperor Jarret Tenebe that Edo State has been pushed below poverty line by Governor Obaseki and as such, majority of the poor rural dwellers are unable to buy Android phones or data, aptly defines the miserable hardship that has been caused by the PowerPoint administration of PDP in Edo State.
No analysis of junk data coming from any onlooker, observing from his armchair in Lagos, Abuja or anywhere outside Edo State will abort the plan of stakeholders to own their destiny.
Edo people will not allow rent seekers to peddle plagiarized figures and data that does not reflect the physical conditions in Edo State.
It is unethical for pseudo-commentators to make spurious judgements on the state of affairs in Edo, except someone who has gone round the 18 local government areas.
In this regard, the APC is inviting independent journalists, including Oseni Rufai of Arise Television to join the APC campaign train to the 192 wards to gather organic and substantiated data on the Local Economic Development (LED) from Edo rural dwellers.
In the alternative, Oseni and editors of national dailies can ask their reporters that are embedded with our crew to take videos and pictures of the ecological disaster that Edo has become under Governor Obaseki of PDP.
Even now, we are ready to share with Rufai, the video of Evbueghae Community, where Obaseki’s Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare hails from. The only thing of note standing there are Evbueghae Primary School Three blocks of ‘Red Roof’ classrooms that were built by APC’s Comrade Oshiomhole.
The tarred road has been washed to over 5-feet deep, especially in front of Nehikhare’s father’s house. The only sign of electricity are strings of lifeless wires and rusty transformers.
We will also take Rufai and his irks to visit Ike community in Uhunmwode Local Government Area, where Governor Obaseki claimed as his ancestral homeland. The place is less than 30 minutes drive from Benin City, but has been totally cut off from civilization, so much so that, the only access to Ike is a narrow earth road. The school block is completely destroyed, no electricity, no healthcare centre or water.
In 2016, APC leaders, including Oshiomhole had led Obaseki in search of his ancestral home where he made a promise to develop Ike to compete with Iyamho. When he became governor, the Enogie (Duke) and elders of Ike made several trips to government house but no avail.
In one of his trips to government house, the Enogie died in a motor accident that involved a public transport he was traveling in. Obaseki’s Enogie was buried through the benevolence of sysympathizers.
The PDP leaders and Governor Obaseki may disagree with Tenebe that the rural Edo State people who are in the majority, do not watch Arise Television because of their inability to afford pay-per-view television digital set or buy data.
Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches. Only the poor whose rice and other grains were diverted by Obaseki can decide on their life survival strategies.
Comrade Orobosa Omo-Ojo is Director of Publicity, APC Edo Governorship Campaign Organization