The Edo State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Chief Dan
\nOrbih, has described the mega rally organised at the Samuel Ogbemudia
\nStadium in Benin City by the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday as
\na send-forth party for the outgoing governor, Adams Oshiomhole and his
\nParty.<\/p>\n
Orbih made this declaration on the occasion of PDP’s stakeholders meeting
\nin Benin where the party’s governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie
\nIze-Iyamu, said that he was contesting Saturday’s election to win and be
\nsworn in as Oshiomhole’s successor.<\/p>\n
The state chairman, in his welcome address, assured national leaders of
\nthe party and south-south governors at the meeting that all the
\nstakeholders in the eighteen local government areas of the state had
\nworked hard with a resolve to lead the party and his candidate to victory
\nin Saturday’s governorship poll.<\/p>\n
Ize-Iyamu, who also addressed the meeting, said he was confident of
\nvictory for the PDP “as the party which boasts of great leaders like the
\nEsama of Benin, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion; the Iyasele of Esanland, Chief
\nTony Anenih; the Oduma of Igueben, Chief Tom Ikimi; and Chief Mike
\nOghiadomhe to mention a few, cannot afford otherwise on Saturday.”<\/p>\n
He stated further: “Many of you know the very vicious fight instigated by
\nexternal forces – some from our state- that we have been facing at the
\nnational level. A lot of the fight we could not fight because it was in
\nAbuja. But we thank God that we had a very dogged national chairman who
\nwas also able to block all the antics of those who wanted to frustrate
\nus.”<\/p>\n
Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of the PDP, Senator Ahmed
\nMakarfi declared APC dead in Edo and called for a minute silence in its
\nagonising memory, adding that a service of song would be organised for the
\nAPC after the Saturday election.<\/p>\n
RIvers State Governror, Nyesom Wike, assured voters in the state that
\nPastor Ize-Iyamu would emerge as the next Edo governor on Saturday, even
\nas he admitted that the battle would not be an easy one.<\/p>\n
He, however, asked all party members and leaders to be united, committed
\nand resolved in seeking the victory, arguing that, “PDP is on ground in
\nEdo; therefore, do not be intimidated. We have come to give you the moral
\nsupport so that you will emerge victorious but you must be united and work
\nas a team because this is your best and last opportunity.”<\/p>\n
Describing the election as the battle to liberate Edo he said, “Freedom is
\nnot easy to get. When you want to get freedom, you must make sacrifice.
\nThe election in Edo means making sacrifice and requires commitment …you
\nwill be intimidated; therefore, prepare yourselves.”<\/p>\n
He also admonished the stakeholders to be wise in their relationship with
\nsecurity operatives, tasking them to ensure that the right thing\u00a0 was done
\nat every polling unit so that the true results would come out.<\/p>\n
Wike urged party agents at all polling units to be alert and attentive at
\nall times and refrain from making excuses that would see the other party
\nmanipulating the process.<\/p>\n
Delta State Governor,\u00a0 Senator Ifeanyichukwu Okowa, said that for the past
\nseven and a half years or thereabouts, Edo State, which is a twin brother
\nof Delta,\u00a0 had been in pains, adding that if PDP leaders and stakeholders
\nat all levels joined hands victory would be sure on Saturday.<\/p>\n
He stated that Edo people would need to turn out en masse on Election Day
\nto elect a PDP governor in Pastor Ize-Iyamu because in the South-south
\ngeopolitical zone Edo State has been left out of the PDP Governors’ family
\nand the state needs to urgently come back to the fold.<\/p>\n
According to him, “Edo and Delta are brothers and we are waiting patiently
\nto ensure that we control the two states and those of us in the
\nSouth-south, we are waiting patiently because we want to have a unified
\nfamily.<\/p>\n
“I have seen it in you, but this boldness that I see must translate to
\nvictory on Saturday. We can win all the local government areas of this
\nstate. And we must ensure that we are right on ground to defend our
\nvotes.”<\/p>\n
He added, “In the Bible, in the book of Joshua chapter one, God knew it
\nwould be difficult but he told Joshua to be strong and courageous- that is
\nmy charge to you.<\/p>\n
“I believe you all know that in the last seven and a half years to eight
\nyears, it has been pains in Edo and if you want the pains to stop, you
\nmust fight not just for yourselves but also for the people and you must
\nmobilize the people to vote, defend the votes and defend the results at
\nthe unit level, to the ward and local and even the state level.” Deputy
\nGovernor of Bayelsa State, Rear Admiral John Jonah (retd.) said that the
\nAPC would do everything possible to remain in power but urged the PDP
\nsupporters across the state to show them the way out on Saturday.<\/p>\n
He said , “the APC has a strategic document called the south-south and
\nNorth central penetration document. And for the South-South, they clearly
\nstated that when election comes, get all the results and let the PDP go to
\ncourt and we will appoint the judge.”<\/p>\n
Jonah, who represented Governor Seriake Dickson, said that party agents
\nmust be proactive and use their mobile devices where necessary to record
\ndevelopments at the polling units, adding that such incidents often
\nstopped malpractices at elections.<\/p>\n
According to him, “From what I am seeing and from what I listened to
\nduring the debate of the 4 candidates on CHANNELS Television, I am very
\nproud to say that we have a very capable candidate representing us. this
\nis our greatest asset and we must build on it.”<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Senator Walid Jibrin, said he was at
\nthe meeting with a message of goodwill to Edo people that on Sunday, by
\nthe time the results would have been collated and announced, they would
\nhave a brand new PDP governor.<\/p>\n
He also prayed that God would punish any one or group that would take it
\nupon itself to disrupt the polls in any guise or manner that would affect
\nthe will of Edo people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Edo State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Chief Dan Orbih, has described the mega rally organised at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City by the All Progressives…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n