The All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, has advised the Peoples Democratic Party flagbearer, Asue Ighodalo, to withdraw from the September 21 governorship election due to his alleged failure as Economic Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki.
Okpebholo gave the advice during a meeting with the Edo State chapter of All Farmers Association of Nigeria in Benin on Tuesday.
He said: “I told myself that if I was Ause Ighodalo, I would not bother contesting the governorship election because a government that I am economic adviser to has failed. Where I come from, which is Esanland, we were taught morals, and anything that is bad or spoilt we don’t eat.”
Okpebholo lamented the current debt profile of the state, saying: “In Edo State, do you know the debt profile of the state at the moment is over N573 billion? That is what Edo state is owing now. During Adams Oshiomhole’s reign, monthly allocation from the federation account was between N3.1 billion and N3.3 billion but today the allocation is between N11.1 billion and nothing to show for it.”
He criticized the outgoing government, saying: “This outgoing government which Asue Ighodalo is the chief Economic Adviser only inherited about N43 billion debt from Adams Oshiomhole, Lucky Igbinedion and Prof Oserhiemen Osunbor governments. When Oshiomhole was receiving between N3.1 billion and N3.3 billion, work was going on in the state but with over N11 billion, Governor Obaseki has nothing to show for it.”
Okpebholo assured that when voted into power, he would change the narratives of governance for the betterment of the people.
He appealed to the farmers to come out en masse on election day to vote for him, saying: “My administration would place a premium on the empowerment of farmers as major stakeholders in addressing food insecurity.”
He urged the electorate to use their Permanent Voters Card to punish PDP and its candidate, saying: “On September 21, 2024, it is just about a month from now, we will punish them with our votes. That our money they have been taking, they would vomit it on that day.”
Okpebholo announced that he would be commissioning a block of classrooms constructed at a primary school in Ewohimi, the birthplace of the PDP governorship candidate, in a few days. He described the condition of the primary school.
He said, “The roof of the primary was blown off while pupils were also sitting on the floor during school hours.”
