…Atiku, Obaseki, Damagun, others rally support for Ighodalo, Ogie
…Shettima, Akpabio, Ganduje turn out for Okpebholo
…Edo Govt insists on free, fair, credible election
…urges US, UK, EU embassies, others to prevail on Tinubu
Ahead of the Saturday, September 21 governorship election in Edo State, the two major contending parties in the election, the ruling party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) held the grand finale of their governorship campaigns in Benin City, the state capital, at the weekend.
At the PDP mega rally held at Garrick Memorial School Playground, opposite Ekenwan Campus of University of Benin in Benin City, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Iliya Damagum, and others present rallied support for the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, and his running mate, Osarodion Ogie.
Speaking to the mammoth crowd of party faithful at the PDP campaign grand finale, Atiku urged the people not to be scared or allow themselves to be intimidated but rather come out en masse to vote and stay to defend their votes, ensuring that the party and its candidate emerge victorious.
He added that the APC threatened to take over the state in 2020 but they didn’t succeed because Edo people can’t be intimidated, appealing to them to do same this time around and ensure Asue Ighodalo becomes the governor of Edo State.
On his part, Governor Obaseki thanked the people for always supporting the party and his government, leading to the successes recorded by his administration in the last eight years.
He urged the people to come out en masse to ensure the party’s victory at the September 21 poll.
“When I came into office in 2016, I was told that teachers couldn’t read, that they were not good and were abandoned but today Edo is number one in education,” Obaseki said.
“When I came, they said civil servants were corrupt, not good, and were not paid salaries on time but today, we have the best civil service in Nigeria. When I took over office our pensioners were not paid but today they get their pensions on time.
“In 2016, there were no jobs in Edo State, no hope for our youths as they were all traveling out of the country through illegal means out of frustration but we have changed the narrative, and created jobs for our youths,” he said.
He urged the crowd of supporters to vote for the PDP to ensure that the state continues to move forward.
“Our state is the safest in the country. Our vigilantes are the best in the country. Now they want to spoil all our achievements.
“Will you vote for insecurity and people who did not go to school to lead us? The decision is clear and next Saturday is the election day and we need you all to come out en masse to vote for PDP and ensure Asue Ighodalo and Osarodion Ogie win the election and become the governor and deputy governor respectively,” Obaseki said.
The rally was also attended by PDP vice presidential candidate in the 2023 election and former governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah, Akwa Ibom State Governor Umoh Eno, Osun State Ademola Adeleke, and Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori.
Others attendees included former Governors Liyel Imoke and Donald Duke; former Minister of Police Affairs, Adamu Maina Waziri, serving senators, former Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Agboola Ajayi, members of the PDP National Working Committee, among other leaders and chieftains of the PDP.
Also, Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed said the PDP governors are more united than ever, urging the people to stay united and ensure the victory of the party’s candidate.
The Chairman of Edo National Campaign Council and Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Fintiri, commended the developmental strides of Governor Obaseki and urged the people to vote for PDP and Asue Ighodalo to sustain the progress and development in the state.
“Obaseki has made a mark in Edo State in terms of development, performance, and human capacity development. Edo people need to vote right to bring in another competent person like Obaseki or a man better than Obaseki,” Fintiri said.
“We should support and vote for Asue Ighodalo because he is the most credible candidate for this election. We will all be here next Saturday. We can’t be intimidated or threatened by anybody or party. We will vote, protect, and defend our votes and ensure Asue Ighodalo wins the election,” he said.
Ighodalo and his running mate were also presented with the party’s flag by the National Chairman of PDP, Damagun.
Receiving the flag, Ighodalo said, “We will govern with sincerity, and transparency and do what will make Edo great again. PDP is a party of courage and we have the courage to fight and win our elections come September 21st, 2024. We promise to take Edo to the next level and place the State amongst the first world States.”
APC’s mega rally held at the Sports Complex of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Ugbowo Main Campus, and was attended by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta Development, Abubakar Momoh, National Chairman of APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, former National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole, and the ousted Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu.
Also in attendance were Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos); Bassey Otu (Cross River); Hope Uzodimma (Imo); Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa); Dapo Abiodun (Ogun); Lucky Aiyedatiwa (Ondo); Umar Namadi (Jigawa); AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara) and Ahmed Ododo (Kogi).
Speaking at the mega rally, Shettima canvassed votes for the party’s candidate, Monday Okpebholo, whom he described as “a strategic thinker, builder, and compassionate leader”.
Other speakers, such as Akpabio, Ganduje, and Oshiomhole also drummed support for Okpebholo.
Meanwhile, the Edo State government has continued to draw attention to “findings of our intelligence which we have uncovered ahead of the September 21 governorship election in Edo State”.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Osa Nehikhare, called on the country’s leadership, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and diplomatic corps to take note of the information the state government was bringing to the notice of the general public while also calling for immediate action.
“Despite all the appeals made to the police to end the indiscriminate arrest of chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), they have yet deployed some other squad of policemen from outside Edo State to begin massive arrest of PDP chieftains perceived to be politically strong in their various constituencies in order to pave the way for the manipulation of elections in those areas. This intimidation tactic is irresponsible and most reprehensible,” Nehikhare said.
“Our intelligence has also uncovered massive production of masks and police uniforms by agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to veil their thugs who they plan to deploy to disrupt voting processes in units and wards where they know they do not stand a chance of victory. Only recently, a chieftain of the APC wore one of those uniforms and the police even presented a defense for such wanton display of impersonation,” he said.
The commissioner said there were also plans by the House of Representative member representing Ovia Constituency to use about 200 militants “for the purpose of disrupting election materials and electoral officials in the riverine axis of the state beginning from Ologbo, Nikorogha, all the way to Siluko”.
“We also understand that these militants have already been ferried into the State and lodged into various hotels. We are giving this information for the security agencies to act swiftly to arrest or dislodge these thugs and plans.
“We have also uncovered plans to redeploy all the security officials attached to the Edo State Governor, His Excellency Governor Godwin Obaseki, in order to leave him without protection and render him vulnerable as we head into the election as well as on election day,” he said.
Speaking further, Nehikhare said, “We are also aware of plans that have already been concluded by Senator Adams Oshiomhole to engage the Commander of Mopol 60 and his men who have been engaged to provide shield in the polling units around Senator Oshiomhole’s home in Iyamho in order to allow the senator and his supporters take the ballot paper and all election materials into his premises and thumbprint all the ballot papers for APC, leaving other parties with no chances of getting fair votes. In the last elections, we gave this information but it was ignored. The BVAS report validated our report as 210 people were accredited but over 1000 votes were recorded.
“Having confirmed that they cannot win in Okpella, Lampese, Fugar, Ibillo, and Agenebode, the APC has concluded plans to use thugs veiled in those masks and police uniforms which they produced to disrupt electoral process and intimidate voters in those areas
“In Egor Local Government Area, the APC has gathered thugs in the home of Crosby Eribo as well as other houses in the neighborhood under the shield of the Textile Mill Police Station in order to disrupt the voting process in Egor Local Government.”
He called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to order the security agencies, especially the police, to stop the attacks on unarmed and harmless Edo people and Nigerians who have done nothing wrong except that they want a free, fair and credible election so that they can vote for the candidate of their choice.
“We also call on the International Community, Embassies of the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union as well as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) to prevail on President Tinubu so that the electorate in Edo can cast their votes in favour of whoever they believe is better to lead their State for the next four years,” he said.
