As the campaign for the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State hots up, the Edo State Government has challenged the candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Monday Okpebholo, to address the electorates directly and not through the over 150 spokesmen who speak on his behalf.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, the duo of Chris Nehikhare, Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, and Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Media Projects, said that it was embarrassing that in the last three months, Okpebholo had not addressed the people directly.
They therefore challenged the APC candidate to address the people of the state in any language of his choice for five minutes
Speaking first, Nehikhare noted that the APC had in the last three months issued over 150 press statements without one of the statements mentioning what the party intended to do for the people of Edo State if elected.
Nehikhare, who said that Governor Obaseki should be commended for the maturity he displayed in handling the violence that broke out in the state penultimate Thursday, bemoaned a situation where the APC had not deemed it necessary to mention one line item it planned to execute should it be elected in the forthcoming election.
“In the last three months, APC has released over 150 press statements; we count them. Not a single time has it told the Edo people what it intends to do and how to do it. But on our part, Governor Obaseki has set aside N1 billion monthly to be given to the most vulnerable. APC has not been able to say if it will continue with that or if it will do it better.
“We led the charge for the N70,000 minimum wage, which the APC Federal Government has copied. Our candidate, Asue Ighodalo, has said that he would review it upward if elected. The APC has not said what it intends to do. The APC has not shown any innovative way to involve itself in the minimum wage.
“Since September last year, we introduced the free bus ride scheme, and we have extended it to November. Nowhere from the APC have we heard what it wants to do? we have employed over 5,000 people into the civil service; apart from the teaching service, there has been nothing from the APC,” the commissioner stated.
According to Nehikhare, “The APC candidate is the only one with over 150 people speaking for him and none have said anything about what the APC candidate will do for the people. Is that how to do it? Won’t the candidate speak for himself?” Nehikhare asked.
In his remark, Osagie said that because of his limitations with the English Language, the APC candidate would be excused from using any language of his choice to address the people.
“We challenge the candidate of the APC, Senator Okpebholo, to speak to the Edo people for just five minutes. We understand his predicament with the English Language. We will allow him to use either Pidgin English or Esan Language to speak to the people for just five minutes”, Osagie challenged.
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