*Vows To End Insecurity In The State

As the 2024 governorship election in Edo State draws near, the gubernatorial aspirant under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Honourable John Yakubu, has admonished his party members to bury their grievances and avoid making mistakes that can cost them victory at the poll.

Yakubu who spoke on the party’s experience in the last general election, attributed the outcome largely on the internal crises within the part as well as Peter Obi’s factor.

He however believed that the party would be forced to come together as a house divided against itself cannot stand.

“Outside the Obi factor, even now, we still have some pockets of problems here and there to sort out in PDP. As we speak today, I am sure that seeing what happened in the last election, PDP will not allow itself to make that mistake that will cost them Edo State. I strongly believe they will not allow the party to once more, go on that line of mistakes that will cost them the state.

“Once that is done, some persons will move out. I am not talking about voters; politicians who believe they are shortchanged might move out of PDP. There might be realignment. When Godwin Obaseki was about to suffer that in APC, he ran out of the party and came to us, and he was rescued.

“The second aspect is the leadership factor and the anointed candidate. A lot of the governors have done that in the past and others are still going to do it but any person anointed by any governor is not there to do the bidding of the godfathers.”

Adding: “Politicians are incurable optimists but experience has shown that it is going to be difficult. So, I am sure that my party, the PDP will not make that mistake. If they do, there is nothing anyone can do, the voters will ultimately judge who the governor will be.”

Yakubu further warned that what happened during the Presidential election will not repeat itself because there would be a close monitoring from every corner, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“So, the earlier the PDP begin to look at the process of enthroning a transparent process of bringing in a candidate, the better for us. But if they do otherwise, I wish them well.”

Speaking on how he hoped to defeat other contenders in the coming election, especially under the platform of PDP, Yakubu said that he shares the same thoughts and feelings with the electorates in the state. “I say this with all confidence, not because I am a PDP person because of what I represent. According to him, Edo State voters cannot be deceived by pretentious candidates.

He also cautioned that some contenders even within the party cannot claim to be foundation members. I think we are going out of politics of blackmail and politics of deceit that we have played over time, and that is the reason we are crying to the media. I am not sure Edo people would be deceived”, he said.

If given the opportunity to govern the state, he said one of his first tasks would be to allow a transparent local government election in the state.

“We can even bring in INEC to come and conduct it. Let us start from there so that the people at the local government level can hold chairmen accountable rather than appointing people and pretending to conduct the election.”

Yakubu who served as the Chairman, of Esan North East Local Government Council is optimistic about Edo State which is working and prosperous. He assured that if given the mandate to serve, the state would be effectively secured.

He decried that citizens of the state were being chased out of their farmlands by strangers; alleging that some citizens of the state were collaborators with hoodlums and that it was time for him to take the lead in ensuring that farmers and their farmlands are secured.

Accepting that agriculture can save the nation, he recalled how he boosted agriculture as a council chairman by providing modern implementation, improved yield and human capital development.

He noted that it will be almost impossible for agriculture to feed the nation without the government’s input.

“We are running a capitalist economy; once there is profit in the business, you don’t need to be told. In a day or two, every other person will go into that business. If farmers are making money from agricultural produce today, people will go back to the farm.

“Today in Edo State, we are setting the pace in power generation and in the next one or two years, the level of power generation and distribution in the state would be the best out of the 36 states of the federation because we have natural gas.

The running mate to former PDP governorship candidate in the 2016 governorship election in the state, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, added that his recent visit to a museum in the United Kingdom revealed that they generate revenue from artefacts from different countries they colonized.

“The things with which they make money there are some of our properties, things from India, things from Egypt and things from other countries they colonized. Not one produced by the British people

“I am sure that after this administration and if given the opportunity to take up the leadership of the state, these are things we would put in place so that people from different parts of the world can come to Edo State and we can generate revenue from this venture”, he said.

He added that if the state must have leaders that are beneficial to the people, selflessness must be introduced. “We must come clean and it has to start from somewhere. Somebody must champion the cleaning of the rot that has rocked the country since independence.”

Yakubu, who was in office as local government chairman for only two years and 10 months between 2007 and 2010, said he was able to construct eight new roads, built a new police barracks, built a police station as well as restructured all primary health care centres in Uromi for efficient health care delivery.

According to him, he was able to do much for his people within the available resources because he resisted all forms of corruption, including the deduction of 10 per cent from the council’s allocation by the then-state administration of Governor Adams Oshiomhole, demonstrating his independence and steadfastness as a politician.

“In an attempt to ensure that our people were effectively served, I did not allow the then governor to access money belonging to the local council”, he said.

Noting that the state can be prosperous again, he informed that his government, if voted into office, will tap the abundant natural gas reserves in the state to provide a 24-hour electricity supply, taking advantage of the law and empowering individuals and organizations to invest in power generation and distribution.

He said: “We have been given the opportunity now by the federal government signing the law empowering individuals and organizations to go into power generation and distribution. I tell you, Edo State will take that advantage and make sure it is done to the benefit of our people.”