Benin, Edo Nigeria – By Ola Airenakho
Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has appealed to the people of the State to vote the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in the Saturday April 11 House of Assembly election and not waste their votes on rival People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which, according to him, has been incapacitated.
Oshiomhole reminded Edo people in his speech in Uromi yesterday of the importance of the elections, describing it as an opportunity to consolidate the change occasioned by the defeat of President Goodluck Jonathan by retired General Muhammadu Buhari during last Saturday presidential election.
“I hear people say that before APC was in opposition; yes we too want them to do opposition. PDP has passed its productive years. Forever and ever, PDP can no longer deliver.
“The engine of the Mercedes in Abuja today is APC’s Buhari, the back axle at the State level is Oshiomhole of the APC, now the seat in the House of Assembly, do you want to put in Volkswagen and reject the Benz? You must vote Adima and Okpame so that the Mercedes will be complete.
“Election that was held last week, some people do not know what happened. Some say we lost but I say we won because today APC is now the Federal Government. Can we win more than that? To win does not mean that everybody must vote one way. What the majority says is what matters. That is what gives me joy.
“My joy again is that in the whole of South-south, it is only in Edo State that Buhari recorded 46%. In Edo, Buhari won 46% and what is needed is 25% but we gave him double. We got votes from Uromi and I know if you calculate the votes they cancelled, more than 150,000 votes and if you add them to what we scored, we would have beaten PDP in Edo State.”
Oshiomhole stressed the importance of being with the party in power at both state and national levels as, according to him, it opens greater doors of opportunity for employments, among others, saying that with Buhari becoming the next president all those national positions enjoyed by PDP members would now be for members of the All Progressives Congress.
He named the Nigerian Ports Authority, INEC, SURE-P, etc., as some of the federal government agencies for which APC in the state can nominate people for board appointments when Buhari assumes the mantle of leadership of the country.
The Governor, in his characteristic way of arresting the attention of his audience appeared to have scolded the Uromi-born PDP chieftain who is also the chairman of PDP Board of Trustee and chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority, when he said: “In Uromi land, power has changed. People who used to carry police to arrest us, we will now be the one arresting them.
Before, the police was afraid of them but not anymore because the Commander-in-Chief is now General Muhammadu Buhari of APC. Power has changed. When an Iroko falls, any small bird would fly over it.”
“Now if we want to nominate Board members for NPA, it is we that we do it. The Uromi man that would go to NPA will come from APC, the Uromi Man that will be in SURE-P will come from APC, the Uromi man that will be in INEC will come from APC and the Uromi man that will be Minister of Works will be from APC,” he assured.
On the request for support for the completion of their market, Oshiomhole said, “I will support using Edo State Government money; we will contribute N25 million to complete this market so that the women can trade comfortably.
So, next week after the elections, the Chairman should come and collect the money and complete the market.”
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