APC hopeful of victory as group endorses Ize-Iyamu

•Factional PDP Reps caucus tackles IGP, Malami over Edo Assembly crisis

Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker Committee, Mai Mala Buni, has expressed confidence that the ruling party would win the September 19, 2020 gubernatorial election in Edo State.

Leading a delegation comprising governors, faithful and supporters to kick-off the campaign for the party’s candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu at the weekend in Benin City, the Yobe chief executive urged the people to be peaceful before, during and after the poll.

He assured the citizens that the party was fully behind Ize-Iyamu.

Also speaking, chairman of the APC National Campaign Council, Abdulahi Ganduje, said the party had begun on a victorious note with the successful inauguration of the excluded members of the state House Assembly, urging voters to back Ize-Iyamu for inclusive governance and development.

The immediate past national chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, tackled Governor Godwin Obaseki on his alleged conflicting academic credentials and a litany of memoranda of understanding which, according to him, “merely enriched consultants and failed to offer any benefit to the people.”

In his remarks, Ize-Iyamu appreciated his August visitors, including Governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Hope Uzodinma (Imo), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, and the Minister of Transportation, Chibuile Rotimi Amaechi.

He said their presence and the crowd were affirmation that the state had chosen APC and would demonstrate same during balloting.

Others who graced the event were Minister of State for Budget, Clem Agba, his Petroleum, Mines and Steel Development counterparts, Timipreye Sylva, Uchechukwu Ogah; Edo APC chieftain, Maj.-Gen. Charles Airhiavbere (rtd) and former Deputy Governor Pius Odubu.

Meanwhile, the Grassroots Youths and Students Movement (GYSM) has endorsed the governorship hopeful.

The group, which is a brainchild of Comrade Western Uwa Iyamu, communicated the endorsement through its spokesperson, Andrew Omondiale, at the weekend in Benin City.

Conversely, a factional Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives has upbraided the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, over their alleged role in the Edo legislature crisis.

Kingsley Chinda, who chairs the group, stated that the “desperation by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State to grab power at all cost could lead to blood shed.”

The caucus wondered why “police officers had to be deployed from Abuja to Benin with instructions to forcefully take over the assembly complex undergoing renovation.”

It claimed that the duo “must have instigated the attempt to impeach the Edo House of Assembly Speaker, Mr. Frank Okiye, who is the highest ranking law officer in the state and dubiously take over governance of the state.”