… “No dominant party in Edo state “- Igbinigie
By Ijeli Edobor
As the campaigns for the edo local government elections inches closer to an end, the electorate in Edo State are aware that the election is a contest between three main political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP ; the Labour party, LP, and the All progressive congress party, APC in the state.
A Public affairs, political analyst and the director-general for the Edo Integrity Coalition, Mr.Jeffery Igbinigie, has described the All Progressives Congress, APC, as a party that was bereft of ideas, saying that it not an option for people in the state come,2023 local government election. He described the All Progressives Congress’ target to take over power in the local government as “unrealisable dream”.
Igbinigie, told News men at his office in Benin, that the APC had no credibility in Edo State to win any election, adding, however, that it was entitled to such ambition, “but it will remain a dream”.This is a tactical time where people can say all sort of things and have a lot of false expectations.
He asked, what is it on ground that the APC want to campaign with,”Edo people are not easy forgetters, they cannot forget so easily the highheadedness of power during the APC administration where thugs rein terror in the state,where we cannot sleep with our eyes closed for fear of being attacked or killed in broad day light”.
He said ” although Edo is PDP state for now, the electorate, this time, is warming up to vote for individuals and not political parties. This has implications for APC which is seeking to secure votes for all its candidates, an ambitious objective that has been turned into the party’s ‘suffer nor dey tire you’ campaign slogan.”
Igbinigie, said” the Edo Integrity Coalition is at the forefront of the campaign to elect Labour party candidates into local government councils at this Saturday state election. He said, “the faint hope that the presidential candidates of the APC, Senator Bola Tinubu, who was declared winner by the professor Mahmood Yakubu led INEC, would translate into electoral victory for the APC in the state is a big illusion.”The LP will sweep the polls for the local government election in Edo state because as we speak, the APC is no longer a factor in the electoral map of the state”, Igbinigie declared.
He said, “So our mission is to reclaim and rescue our dear Edo from the years of the locusts that the APC government represents. With a solid grassroots structure spanning all the polling units where we have Coordinators up to the state level, our Reclaim Edo slogan campaign is spreading like wildfire. It is this momentum that has sounded the death knell for APC in the state – the same that will propel LP to victory beyond 2023.
“Ordinarily, we wouldn’t bother to campaign for LP in the state since the staggering failure of other political parties has clearly shown the people that LP remains their only option for sustainable development and good governance.
We are not leaving anything to chance, especially given that other parties aside from APC which has shut itself out of any reckoning, are also going to be on the ballot. In fact, in Edo state we are not contesting against APC, we are contesting against all other political parties”, Jeffery Igbinigie said.