By Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary, PDP
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the confession by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the Edo governorship election, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has further validated the position by his party’s former National Chairman, that he is unfit to hold office as governor of the state.
The PDP said that from Ize-Iyamu’s confession that he was expelled from the university, Nigerians, and particularly, the people of Edo state. are no longer in doubt regarding issues surrounding the personality and conduct of the APC candidate.
The party further observed that the expulsion by a panel, which, according to former APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, was chaired by no less a person than the current Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Iste Sagay, has put a permanent deficit on Ize-Iyamu as the APC candidate.
Moreover, Nigerians are still waiting for Ize-Iyamu to address why, according to the former APC National Chairman, he did not attend Law School as well as why Oshiomhole described him as a person that is only good for ‘night meetings’ and should not be entrusted with the governorship of Edo state.
Certainly, Edo state, at this critical time, does not deserve a governor who will pull her backward by being weighed down by huge moral burden of daily excuses and explanations on issues and allegations of misdeeds.
It is indeed unfortunate that the APC is now stuck with a candidate that is burdened by a huge image problem; a candidate who has no message or any blueprint to develop the state; who does not enjoy the support of the people but that of a few selfish individuals, whose interest is only to gain access to the coffers of the state.
In any case, the people of Edo state have already settled for the PDP candidate, Governor Godwin Obaseki, whose personal character and achievements in office stand as indelible testimonials to his love and commitment to the development of the state and wellbeing of the people.
In the last four years, Governor Obaseki has initiated and executed programmes and policies that have revived the state’s productive sectors, elevated the living standard of the people, returned transparency and accountability in governance while liberating the state from the stranglehold of corrupt godfathers, who are now desperately seeking to use Ize-Iyamu’s ticket to regain access to power to continue to exploit the state.
The PDP therefore urged the few well-meaning individuals left in the Edo APC to see the handwriting on the wall and join the people of Edo state in their determination to retain ownership of the state by re-electing Governor Obaseki, come September 19.