The two leading contestants in the Edo State governorship
race, Godwin Obaseki and Osagie Ize-Iyamu, took the podium at the Benson Idahosa
University, to woo voters with their manifestos.
Obaseki of the
ruling All Progressives Congress and Ize-Iyamu of the opposition Peoples
Democratic Party, according to a statement made available to our correspondent,
appeared separately at a two-day interactive session organised by the
International Leadership Idea Exchange on the Benson Idahosa University campus.
The interactive
session was with the theme, “Why You?”
Obaseki, who took
the stage on the first day of the interactive session, seized the opportunity
to harp on his dream of making Edo State the food basket of the whole nation.
The aspirant, who
said his agricultural programme would focus on the production of oil palm,
cassava, cocoa, grains, rubber, fruits and vegetables, assured the people that
the initiative would create over 20,000 jobs for citizens.
Obaseki urged the
people to vote him to enable his party, APC, consolidate on his efforts to
implement the blueprint it had for the state.
“There is so much we
have done and we need someone who understands this to continue in that
trajectory,” Obaseki said.
Ize-Iyamu, who spoke
on the second day of the interactive session, said he was in the race to
correct the wrongs done in the state during the reign of the APC.
In his own remark,
Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the People’s Democratic Party said he is in the
governorship race because he is deeply concerned about the happenings in the
state.
He explained that
his focus would be on infrastructural development as an instrument for
attracting investment to the state.
He said, “I am not
contesting because I am concerned or passionate to rule but because I also have
the experience to change things for better in the state.”
On job creation, he
said investments in industries would however translate to jobs.
The PDP candidate
said the ruling APC government lacked creativity because, according to him, the
government had “depended only on payments of taxes and allocations from Abuja.”
“The more attractive
we make investments, the better it is for the state,” Ize-Iyamu added.
The President of
Benson Idahosa University, Bishop FEB Idahosa, who moderated the session, said
the program was organised “to give our students and the general public the
opportunity to think and address issues and develop the spirit of democracy.”
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