Ahead of the September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo State, the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has inaugurated a 362-man National Campaign Council of the party.
According to reports, the National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, inaugurated the campaign council on Saturday in Benin City.
Inaugurating the Council, Ganduje, the former Governor of Kano State, said the council was divided into sub-committees such as Finance, Mobilization, Youths, Women and Strategy, among others.
Ganduje said the Council is headed by Governor Bassey Ottu of Cross River State while Lucky Aiyetadiwa, the Governor of Ondo State, is the vice chairman.
He charged members of the Council to ensure the party reclaim the state from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the September 21 off-cycle election.
The APC national chairman, who was excited with the official defection of Philip Shaibu, the state deputy governor to the party, said the party had secured up to 50 per cent of the people in the government of the state.
He urged the campaign council to swing into action to ensure that all members at the local government and unit level come out to campaign.
He said the party would soon officially flag off its campaign in Benin City, which would be attended by President Bola Tinubu.
“We are so happy because our incoming governor and his deputy have already produced a blueprint for the development of Edo State.
“They are coming with a blueprint with practical steps, so that Edo can fully develop and be connected to the centre.
“If not connected to the centre, the state would not experience a full political participation and dividends of democracy.
“The only way to achieve this is by voting for Senator Monday Okpebholo and his running mate, Dennis Idahosa, who are flying the flag of the party in the election,” he said.
Ganduje commended the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II for maintaining peace and tranquility in the state.
He assured that the incoming APC government would appreciate and respect the traditional council under the Oba of Benin.
In his speech, the governorship candidate of the party, Okpebholo, said Edo State had never been divided as it is presently.
The APC candidate castigated Governor Godwin Obaseki for raising the state debt profile from about ₦43 billion when he took over in 2016 to over ₦500 billion.
“We are here to change it; we are coming to restore infrastructure, to restore education and to restore security to the state. We are bringing practical governance into the state,” he said.
The State chairman of APC, Jarret Tenebe, in his address, urged the national chairman of the party to join them to rescue the state from the grip of the PDP.
Earlier, Adams Oshiomhole, the former two-time governor of the state, said the gathering represented the very essence of the broom, a reunion of the people who were deceived in their former party.
Oshiomhole, now the senator representing Edo North in the National Assembly, however, reminded the APC governorship candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, said he has a huge task ahead of him as governor of the state.
He urged the people of the state to make a comparison of the years of the rule of the APC and the PDP in the state and see the difference.
“Edo people have the chance to sit back and ask themselves the differences between the years the APC ruled the state and the years the PDP ruled.
“Governance is about having human empathy. Those who do not know your house cannot fix the linkages; only those who know the linkages can help fix them.
“If they can cheat themselves and go to court, we will not allow them to cheat [at the polls]. It will be one-man-one-vote,” he said.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Campaign Council, Governor Bassey Ottu of Cross Rivers, promised to deliver the state for the APC in the September 21, 2024 governorship election.