The Media Director of APC Campaign Council for the 2024 gubernatorial election, Prince Kasim Afegbua has said that Senator Monday Okpebholo’s administration will tackle five critical areas of Edo’s socioeconomic needs, which he said are agriculture, health, education and human capital development, environmental protection and security.
Afegbua, who made the remarks in a press briefing at the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Edo State Council Secretariat, Benin City, also said an APC government will probe Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration, if the party wins the September 21 governorship election.
He said, Edo State has been ruined in the last eight years by Godwin Obaseki’s administration and that Senator Monday Okpebholo, when he becomes governor in November will correct whatever anomaly created by the administration.
According to him, “The reason for this conference is to formally notify you all that we have taken off our campaigns across the state; the APC campaigns have now taken off!!!! We will cover 18 Local Governments and 192 Wards, and our message is simple.
“It is a message of hope because A NEW EDO IS RISING: Edo is rising from the ashes of the present dismal performance of the PDP in the state.
” As a government and party, God willing, we are going to immediately overhaul five critical areas of our socioeconomic stance which we see, need urgent attention.
These areas are; Agriculture, health sector, Education and human capital development, Environmental protection and safety and Security architecture will be overhauled to mitigate the present insecurity situation in the state.
“Edo state has been badly run in the last eight years; this does not need to be over-emphasised. The ruins and their relics are ubiquitous. To say the least, it is most disheartening, but we thank God. Our people say who never marries a bad wife no go know when you get a better wife.
“What you see now will form the basis for your comparison and commendation of our incoming governor, Senator Monday Okpebhole when he assumes office, God willing. As the people of the heartbeat of the nation, we know that the Edo people are very peaceful and resilient; they have built and shown character over the last few years. Edo people have tolerated more than enough.
“The homogeneous ancestry that we have is part of the reasons why we see ourselves as one; Edo, okpa ma-khin. But the last eight years have become very troubling years in the annals of our history. We thank God that it is coming to an end.”
He said education in Edo is in desperate need of intervention and that EdoBest has become EdoWorst.
“Education in Edo State is in desperate need of qualitative intervention. Their EdoBest is actually EdoWorst. No new teachers are available to be recruited in such an atmosphere of depleting workforce as we have in Edo State.
The civil service has also been deserted by Edo citizens. The state is now run on casual and contract staff, and prefers to engage only strangers meaningfully, ostensibly for the preservation and concealment of their shenanigans, while the citizens wallow in abject poverty and suffering.
” For optics, Governor Obaseki has raised the civil servant’s minimum wage; it remains to be seen how many civil servants there are in the state. Rather than encourage our businesses, he is promoting outsiders over and above our own citizens.
“The Benin Museum is being built by outsiders using Edo state funds. The Ultra-modern hospital built by the Oshiomhole administration is being run by outsiders. The Stella Obasanjo Hospital being renovated is in the hands of outsiders, and so many others
He said, “We will carry out an audit of the positives and negatives of this present government. We will look at what came in and what went out through the pipes and the drains. We will take deliberate attempt to know the state of wellness of the state.”
