Ighodalo unveils plan for Edo, gets ex-lawmaker’s endorsement

The People Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, has unveiled his strategic vision and insights on driving sustainable development and progress in the state.

According to the governorship candidate, he’s stepping into the political foray to convert his great ideas into transformative action for the people of Edo. He stated this in Lagos at a fund-raising dinner, organised by Corporate Nigeria for Asue Ighodalo (AI) comprising investment bankers, investment financiers, infrastructure financiers, capital market dealers, legal practitioners and private sector leaders within and outside Edo.

Presenting his plans for the state, themed, ‘Pathway to Prosperity for All,’ Ighodalo disclosed his desire to consolidate Governor Godwin Obaseki’s transformative policies in education, healthcare, agriculture and other key sectors of the economy.

Ighodalo cited Obaseki’s Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation programme, codenamed EdoBEST, which revamped the education sector, particularly at the primary and secondary school levels, saying that the initiative has resulted in a consistent ranking of the state in the second and third positions when it comes to basic education in Nigeria.

He noted that the health sector under the current administration is getting a significant boost, with fully equipped Primary Healthcare Centres, reconstruction and accreditation of the Edo School of Nursing, Science and Midwifery, telemedicine partnerships with the Diaspora, and the launch of Edo State Health Insurance Scheme.

The governorship hopeful pointed out that the nearly eight years of the Obaseki administration have recorded significant milestones in agriculture, economy, civil service and Edo Master Plan and contributions to the people’s welfare.

Noting that the potential of Edo has not been fully tapped, Ighodalo promised to solidify these initiatives and advance the state into immeasurable prosperity.

“Given the enormous social and macro-economic challenges we face in Nigeria today, we cannot afford to gamble with our collective future and the destiny of our children by electing a leadership incapable of addressing key developmental challenges with competence and vision,” he said. Ighodalo provided a detailed plan of action to achieve a prosperous future honouring the state’s rich heritage and actualising its full potential.

MEANWHILE, the former Deputy Minority Leader, House of Representative (Oredo Federal Constituency) and former governorship candidate, Emmanuel Arigbe-Osula, has endorsed the PDP candidate, Ighodalo, ahead of Saturday’s election in Edo.

While endorsing Ighodalo, Arigbe-Osula said this would be the most important election to witness in his adult days, considering the prevailing conditions across the nation.

The former lawmaker noted that the poor performance of the ruling APC and the hardship of the Nigerian people are reasons to get it right in Edo. Arigbe-Osula pointed out that this Saturday’s election is a referendum on the nine-year APC government at the centre. He stressed that Nigerians have witnessed nothing but hardship in the last nine years of the APC Federal Government.

He said: “We have known nothing but hardship. Nigerians have known nothing but hardship, insecurity, pain, anguish, and in many ways, death. Edo people must come out in their millions and insist, through their electoral franchise, that this suffering must end.”