A former political adviser to ex-governor Adams Oshiomhole, Charles Idahosa, on Sunday accused Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki of neglecting Uhunmwode Local Government Council Area and its people, stating that there are no teachers in public schools in the locality, despite the Commissioner of Education, Joan Oviawe, hailing from the LGA.

Idahosa spoke at Ehor during the APC ward-to-ward campaign in Uhunmwode Local Government Council Area.

Idahosa, who was also a former Edo Commissioner of Information, said the Obaseki-led government has turned the Technical College in Uhunmwode into a garri factory, where locals take lessons on garri processing, among others.

He said the Ehor Pineapple Juice Factory and the Technical College, which the LGA boasts of, are now a shadow of themselves since the PDP-led government refused to restore the factory to give the agrarian community’s youths a source of livelihood.

Idahosa begged the people to forgive him and Adams Oshiomhole for bringing and championing the Obaseki-led government that failed the Uhunmwode people in delivering the dividends of democracy to their community.

He berated the Obaseki-led government, noting that Uhunmwode Local Government Council is the only local council in the state without a General Hospital, despite being one of the biggest councils endowed with human and material resources.

According to him, there are no teachers in the public schools in Uhunmwode LGA, even though the Commissioner for Education, Joan Oviawe, is from Uhunmwode Local Government Council Area.

Idahosa told the people that the only road tarred in Uhunmwode was constructed by the former governor, Adams Oshiomhole.

He said: “Obaseki has turned our Technical College to a garri factory, and we don’t have teachers in any of our public schools. We contribute money to pay the few teachers in the schools.”

Senator Adams Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo State, called on the people of Uhunmwode to vote APC on September 21, saying he brought Monday Okpebholo to them so that they could hear from him what he intends to do for the people of Uhunmwode.

He pleaded with them to vote APC on election day, as Okpebholo has promised to give them a general hospital when he assumes office as governor of Edo State.

In his speech, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, promised to revive the Ehor Juice Factory established by the Lucky Igbinedion administration and provide the necessary manpower and equipment needed to ensure that the Ehor Technical College is functional.

At Eguaeholor, where the candidate and the campaign team met with party supporters from Isi North and South wards, Okpebholo expressed shock that the main road leading to Governor Godwin Obaseki’s ancestral home is not motorable, as the campaign team had to park most of their vehicles and trek a tortuous distance to access the campaign ground. Okpebholo assured the people that the road would be constructed within 100 days of his administration in office.

“We are all aware that Uhunmwode Local Government Council Area is one of the highest pineapple-producing local governments in Edo State, if not Nigeria. Why can’t we then provide the factory that will buy and process the products from the farmers, instead of allowing them to rot away in the farm without buyers?”

“I will make sure I tar this road immediately. I assume office as the governor of Edo State. I am highly disappointed that Obaseki’s administration neglected even his ancestral home,” Okpebholo said.

Okpebholo, speaking on the state of the Technical College, promised to provide teachers and equip it to the standard required to make it one of the best schools in the country.

In Ugoneki, Egbede/Ohuan ward, APC chieftain Osagie Ize-Iyamu informed the people that Obaseki claimed that he came from Uhunmwode and for eight years he did nothing for the local government.

Reacting, Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, said Charles Idahosa has been a leech and a disloyal politician.

He said his greed and self-centeredness made him (Idahosa) leave the PDP for the APC, adding that the Obaseki-led government has employed more teachers than any previous government in Edo State, with Uhunmwode benefiting more.

“Charles Idahosa’s self-centeredness and greed forced him out of the PDP, and the rot in the Ehor Juice Factory is traceable to him because he is more interested in his pocket than the development of Uhunmwode Local Government, being a leech,” Nehikhare said.