Edo guber: Ex-permanent secretary to UN joins race

• I’m ready to serve Edo, says APC organising scribe
• LP aspirant targets 70% reduction in unemployment in three years

A former Permanent Secretary to the United Nations (UN), Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi, yesterday, said that Nigeria remains underdeveloped because of flawed leadership.

Uhomoibhi disclosed this to newsmen in Benin City when he declared his intention to contest the Edo 2024 governorship election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat.

He said that the leadership deficit in the country has led to myriads of problems affecting the economy, the government and well-being of Nigerians.

Uhomoibhi added that Nigeria, though blessed abundantly in terms of human and material resources, has not fared well as Africa’s giant.

The ambassador said the lamentations by Edo people for the development of the state prompted him to join the governorship race to change the narratives.

Meanwhile, ahead of the 2024 governorship election in Edo, the South South Zonal Organising Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Blessing Agbomhere, has expressed readiness to serve the people of the state in the capacity of governor.

This development followed calls from pressure groups, such as the Edo State chapter of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, who, after their joint meeting on November 30, appealed to Agbomhere to join the race for the governorship seat. They cited his educational qualifications, political clout and massive contribution to the growing fortunes of the APC in Edo as reasons for their clarion call.

Responding through a statement, Agbomhere expressed readiness to throw his hat in the ring, stating that the next governor of Edo State has a lot of work to do in correcting the ills perpetuated by the current administration in the state.

Agbomhere thanked the Renewed Hope Ambassadors for their zeal and commitment in ensuring that the state has good governance once again. He said he has all it takes to be governor.

Also, an aspirant on the platform of Labour Party (LP), Prince Egbe Omorodion, has promised to reduce unemployment in the state by 70 per cent in three years if elected.

Omorodion, an emergency healthcare practitioner and the Chairman of LP, United Kingdom (UK) chapter, observed that high rate of unemployment could be brought down through massive investment in agriculture, noting that it would stimulate economic growth, reduce insecurity and make Edo attractive for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Speaking in an interview with journalists, the governorship hopeful, while expressing concern that despite the agricultural potentials of Edo, previous administrations have failed to key into it to fight food insecurity and engage the teeming unemployed youths.

The Benin-born politician and philanthropist stressed that his administration would make agriculture more attractive to stimulate the interest of youths, saying that lack of modern technology remains the bane of sufficiency in food production in Nigeria.