The countdown to the conduct of the governorship polls in Edo State is barely a week away. Precisely on Saturday, September 10, 2016, Edo people have a date with destiny as they file out in their thousands to elect a new governor who will pilot the affairs of our great state in the next four years.
At the moment, the tempo of political activities has heightened due to massive campaigns and rallies organized by the various political parties across the 192 wards in the 18 local government areas of the three senatorial districts of Edo south, Central and North.
As it stands, 19 political parties and their candidates have been cleared to contest the governorship seat at Osadebey Avenue by the electoral umpire- Independent National Electoral commission (INEC).
However, it is crystal clear to the average Edo voter that the governorship contest is a titanic battle between the most formidable and organized Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the unpopular ruling All progressive congress (APC).
So far, the APC and its chief campaign officer, the outgoing governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole have polluted and endangered the political arena with their brand of “do or die” politics. Rather than run an issue based campaign, they have thrown caution and decency to the winds by embarking on a campaign of calumny, character assassination, pull him down syndrome and cheap blackmail.
First, in their satanic desperation to hold on to power as result of the rising profile and popularity of the PDP and its standard bearer, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, they failed in their unholy attempt at engineering an internal crises within the rank and file of the party by sponsoring some undesirable elements to recklessly indulge in anti-party activities.
Also, the drowning APC government under the dictatorship of Comrade Oshiomhole denied the PDP access to use the Samuel ogbemudia stadium to flag-off its governorship campaign, ever after fulfilling due process for the use of the facility. In addition, the PDP and its campaign train have been denied the usage of public school premises for its rallies and campaign engagements across the state. It is worrisome to note that these are public institutions built with taxpayers’ money and the commonwealth of Edo people.
The APC and its out-going unpatriotic leaders have suddenly become intolerant and politically vicious in its orchestrated plans to muzzle, stifle and intimidate the opposition parties in the state. This barbaric action has been effectively exemplified with the complete shutdown of the PDP campaign activities by the state –owned Edo Broadcasting service-EBS Television and Radio, including its print medium partner, the Nigerian Observer. In some cases, the PDP campaign advertisement jingles are taken to government house by EBS management for scrutiny and approval by either Comrade Oshiomhole or his designated agents before they are aired or completely disregarded –even when such jingles are duly booked and paid for by the PDP. Again, this amounts to a flagrant contravention of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) code as it relates to the broadcast of political jingles and advertorials, both in public and privately –owned broadcast media organizations in Nigeria.
t is also disgusting to place on record that every available space for the erection of billboards and posting of campaign posters in major towns and cities across the state, including Benin, the state capital have become the exclusive rights of the APC and its sinking political machine as it has become a criminal offence for the campaign billboards or posters of the opposition parties to be erected or posted.
More so, well-meaning Edo people and the electorates are shocked and have publicly denounced the latest antics of the APC and its authoritarian rule of framing –up innocent citizens, arrest and detaining them unjustly. These innocent persons are clamped down illegally in police cells and prison custody under frivolous allegations in connivance with officials of the Nigerian Police and Judiciary.
The most recent that has dominated public discourse is the unlawful arrest, detention and frivolous arrangement of some Egbeta youths from Ovia Federal Constituency on charges of attempted murder, arson, e.t.c., for embarking on a peaceful protest.
It is no longer news that the APC and their ignoble leaders, having realized that Edo people are poised to change the unfavourable change they have foisted on the masses, have resorted to planning strategies on to rig the forthcoming governorship elections in active collaboration with some questionable INEC officials who do not mean well for our nascent democracy and the good people of Edo State.
The truth of the matter is that the average Edo man and woman is wiser now and can no longer fall for the antics and deception of an anti-people political party and its benevolent dictator who have inflicted pain, hunger and poverty on the vast majority of our people.
On the whole, Edo people are determined more than ever before, to take their common destiny in their hands by voting overwhelmingly for Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu who has the vision and is on a divine mission of charting a brighter future for the present and next generation. The choice available before Edo people on the 10th of September 2016 is a clear one; it’s a choice between good and evil, between freedom and oppression, between progression and retrogression ,between heavy multiple taxation and tax with a human face, between cosmetic red roofs without chairs ,tables nor teachers and functional schools with functional facilities and teachers, between imposition of stooges and participatory democracy, between owing of salary arrears and prompt payment of salaries to civil servants, pensioners and judiciary workers, between abandonment of industries and revitalization of critical industries, between an unprepared man imposed on his party by the ultimate godfather and a man with a popular mandate from his party well versed in governance, between a man with certificate issues and a man with an impeccable credential. Edo the choice is before you!
For the good people of Edo state, this is the right time to take the future and make Edo state great
