The national woman leader, Mary Alile-Idele, has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would reclaim Edo state next year from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
She said the “poor performance” of Godwin Obaseki has laid the foundations for the recapturing of the state by APC.
Obaseki, who was elected on the platform of APC in his first term, defected to the PDP after falling out with a former governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole.
Obaseki therefore claimed the ticket of the PDP on whose platform he won re-election and would end his tenure next year.
Speaking with journalists from Edo state in Abuja on Wednesday, Alile-Idele said the “bad governance visited on the state by the PDP in the last eight years of being at the helm of affairs” had laid the perfect foundation for the APC to return to Dennis Osadebe House next year.
The APC national women leader said: “Edo state has suffered a high level of political and infrastructural setbacks which should be halted without delay. We don’t want another eight years of disasters under PDP.
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He noted: “In Edo state, if you have been there lately, it is a pathetic situation, there are no better words to describe the state.
“The roads are bad, education terrible and other infrastructural decays. It is a terrible situation and some people are still out there shouting that Edo is the best.
“I will say in 2024 we, in APC, can do better. Our target is to reclaim the state and return to the government house.”
She said she would mobilise women to ensure that the APC emerged victorious in the election.
Alile-Idele said: “We all know when it comes to politics, women are at the forefront, in fact, research has shown that women are the highest number of voters in this country, but that they are however relegated to the background after electoral victory by the male-dominated parties.
“What I have done in Edo state in this regard in the last couple of weeks is by appointing Special Advisers in the 18 local government areas in the state to embark on serious sensitisation and mobilisation of women. These are people that know the corners of their local government areas.”
On her vision for the party, Alile-Idele said, she had already floated some programmes including an empowerment initiative for women, taking the message of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda across the country, attracting young women into politics and mobilising for the APC across the country.