Eleven governors under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), stormed Benin, the capital of Edo State, for the flag-off of the party’s campaign on Saturday. It was in preparation ahead of the September 19 governorship election in the state.
During the ceremony which was held at the University of Benin Sports Complex, the governors were led by the Chairman, Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Committee of the PAC, Mai Mala Buni. The event was also attended by one deputy governor and many party supporters.
Present at the event were the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State; Dapo Abiodun (Ogun); Abubakar Bagudu (Kebbi); Muhammad Abubakar (Jigawa); Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano); Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna); Hope Uzodinma (Imo); Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (Ondo); Gboyega Oyetola (Osun) and Abubakar Bello (Niger).
Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, was represented by his deputy, Mr. Edward Onoja, while the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi was also present.
While Buni, who is also the Yobe State governor, presented the party’s candidate in the election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, to the supporters, and expressed confidence that APC would reclaim Edo state.
He said, “We are in Edo State to take back our state. Four years ago, we were here and you voted for the APC and we know that you will do it again. We urge you not to be violent because victory is ours and we are here to win.”
The Kano State Governor, further corroborated Buni’s position, adding that the party would win by a large margin across the state. “With this crowd, we are confident that victory is ours. We will reclaim Edo State,” he added.
On his own, Ize-Iyami said that going by the massive turnout of supporters, it was obvious that there wasn’t an opposition party in the state.
In his word, “With the people we are seeing today, will anybody say we are in the opposition? Can anybody say we will be intimidated? I want to assure them that in this election, we will not only win; we will win the 18 local governments.
“Let me assure you that never again will we have a governor that is ungrateful. We will have a governor that will respect Edo people, a governor that you can access, a governor that can empower our people and by the grace of God I will do it.”
Also speaking at the event is the former National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole. He also expressed confidence that Ize-Iyamu would win the election, adding that the governor had failed to fulfill his promise to the state.
He added, “Never again should we have a governor who will describe Edo youths as miscreants. Do we have miscreants in this Edo State? No! The government has to impact on the poor and uplift them to a level of dignity.
“Never again should we have a governor who will invite the President to come and do commissioning of a forest that he is going to have an industrial park and today the bush is there. Do you want a governor that will sign an MoU? No.”
