As part of efforts to consolidate his hold on the state, the Edo State governor is currently on an aggressive campaign across the state ahead of the April general elction. Okechukwu Olisah reports.ELECTIONEERING in Edo State ahead of the April polls are, like a musical note, on a high octave. The momentum increases as the election dates draw near. For the state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, and the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the April elections will serve as a litmus test for them, given that most of their electoral victories, including the one that brought Oshiomhole into office as governor, were through judicial pronouncements. Even at that, however, not a few political analysts think that Governor Oshiomhole is the man to beat, since he is seen as the driving force behind both the government and the ACN in the state.With his political ascendancy as governor, Oshiomhole has arguably become the factor in Edo politics. As an incumbent with obvious enormous political will, influence, exposure, reach and financial resources, the Iyamho-Etsako-born Oshiomhole stands like a colossus bestriding the Edo political firmament at the moment.Indeed, going by the ongoing campaigns of the ACN personally empowered by Oshiomhole, many an observer says that it will require an even greater political arsenal and financial wherewithal to dislodge him from his present position. They point to his famed pedigree in mobilisation, persuasion and doggedness as some of the characteristics he is already bringing to bear on the campaigns.As a man who presumably rode on the crest of the peoples goodwill to office and power, sustaining that goodwill is a challenge. And so, in his ongoing state-wide campaigns, Oshiomhole, apart from depending on his characteristic labour-style approach, is ultimately relying on his performance record in office. The verve with which he and the ACN are currently campaigning perhaps goes to show his understanding that nothing can and should be left to chance, otherwise the rhythm may change and the dance steps may begin to wobble, and the dancer begin to fumble.Oshiomhole and the ACN have, so far, held what they describe as mega senatorial rallies in Benin City, Auchi and Irrua, for Edo South, Edo North and Edo Central senatorial districts respectively. The ACN has also held local government rallies in Okada (Ovia North East), Iguobazuwa (Ovia South West), Afuze (Owan East), Sabongidda Ora (Owan West), Ehor (Uhunmwode), Ubiaja (Esan South East), Ekpoma (Esan West), Uselu (Egor), Agenebode (Etsako East), Fugar (Etsako Central), Igueben (Igueben), and Igarra (Akoko Edo) and is still continuing in the mission to cover all the 18 local government areas of the state with one message or the other for the people of the state. Besides, Oshiomhole appears to have made it a part of the campaign strategies to pay a courtesy call on the traditional rulers of the domains the campaign train has visited.At Okada, headquarters of Ovia North East local government, Oshiomhole told the people to resist election riggers. He re-echoed what has now become a mantra that the people must be allowed to elect those they want and any attempt to rig the forthcoming elections should be resisted at the voting centres. The governor appealed to the people to come out and vote on election day and ensure that the votes are counted. He urged the youth to fight for justice at the polls, saying they should not allow anybody to rob them of their votes. We are peace-loving, but we will not be taken for granted. We will stop them from rigging as we are not ready to go to court this time around, he noted.Governor Oshiomhole had a word for persons who had left the ACN; he said members of the party should not be bothered about these persons who he described as mercenaries and opportunists who had come and gone. Those who believe in the party will remain. Check the history of those who have defected; they were mercenary politicians. They are rolling stones that gather no moss and we are not going to miss them. They have been moving from the ANPP to the PDP and to Action Congress of Nigeria and now they are back to the PDP. Let us build our party, as there can be misunderstanding between a husband and wife. Vote for our candidates because we are one and the same, he said.He, however, called on the people to ensure that the campaign for votes was based on development issues and not on empty promises. According to Oshiomhole, in the two years and three months he had been in office, there were physical manifestations of what his ACN administration had done across the state, while in the 12 years of PDP rule in the nation and 10 years in Edo, there was nothing to boast of.Imagine if we are in government for four years what the state would look like. The road to the stadium was rebuilt by this administration, together with several other projects in the three senatorial districts of the state. We want to continue to deliver on good governance for our people, he said, adding that in this local government, three new schools, including the one we are using for the campaign today, will be rebuilt and the contract is to be awarded in March and work to commence in April, he added.While canvassing for votes for candidates of the ACN at the partys rally in Ekpoma and Igueben, headquarters of the Esan West and Igueben local government respectively, the Edo State governor urged the electorate to vote for people who would provide them with quality representation. I think the time has come for the people to insist that politics should be based on development, he noted.Before he and the ACN leadership hit the campaign grounds at Ekpoma and Igueben, Oshiomhole, in company with the partys candidates in Edo Central Senatorial District, visited the palaces of the Onojie of Igueben, HRH Ehizojie Ehiojerior I and the Onojie of Ekpoma, HRH Abumere II, where he sought the blessings of the royal fathers for the ACN candidates.Giving his royal blessing, the Onojie of Igueben said: If you continue at the rate of what we are hearing and seeing, what is happening in Lagos will be a childs play, and these achievements will continue long after you. We are happy over the Udo-Igueben road, Ewohinmi-Igueben road. We saw what you did in Benin City and we are fully part of the erosion control programme in Benin City. We all have our children in Benin City and we are happy about it. You have the support of Igueben Local government because your projects are already speaking for you.On his part, the Onojie of Ekpoma said: I want to thank you for the kind of leader you are, because it is hard to get a leader like you and I want you to continue to raise people like you who will deliver the people from poverty. We give you all the total support you need to make you succeed because I have seen that you have a clear mind towards the people.As far as I am concerned as the Onojie of Ekpoma, it is time to call a spade a spade. That is why I say continue with your one man, one vote campaign. People will gradually change and buy into it.At Agenebode in Etsako East and Fugar in Etsako Central local government areas of the state, Oshiomhole said the nation could not afford to toy with the future of its youths, adding that his administration had injected a fresh N4 billion into the reconstruction of 60 schools as part of the states ongoing total school reconstruction programme.He said besides the investment in schools, the government had also invested in social infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, potable water and electricity to make life more meaningful to people of the state. The governor explained that it was with the help of the members of the state House of Assembly that the government was able to get the money being used to develop the state within two years, and that for there to be continuity in the development strides, the people should vote for the ACN candida.At Fugar, where a prominent musician, Alhaji Waziri Oshomah and several members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defected into the ACN, the governor told the mammoth crowd that the election was critical to the development of the state.
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