FORMER Minister of Foreign Affairs and one of the leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State today, Chief Tom Ikimi, has also made a case for his party and its candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu, insisting that he is poised to win the Edo election.
Admitting that the stake is very high both for the leading opposition party and for its candidate, Ikimi said, “I was one of the two persons fundamentally responsible for the creation of the Action Congress (AC) which in 2007 admitted Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as a member and eventually the party’s governorship candidate. Everything happened virtually at the very last minute, preceding the governorship election of that year. My colleagues and I fought a titanic battle to secure victory for the Action Congress and install Adams Oshiomhole governor.
Our team in that struggle was a formidable political family. We are still very much together today. One of the stars of the team is Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu.
Yes, the stakes are high. All of us who set out with Adams Oshiomhole in 2007 are on one side with the good people from the three senatorial districts of our state, earnestly seeking a peaceful change. We have all overwhelmingly endorsed the candidature of Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu, a consummate politician, a religious man, lawyer, farmer and successful business man.”
On the issues he considers critical in the election, he said, “A critical issue in this election is to prevent a de facto, third term governorship by Adams Oshiomhole, through the back door. The outgoing governor has been extremely hostile to the Central Senatorial District where I come from. He has boasted that he does not require the Esan vote. We want a state in which all the three senatorial zones operate in harmony and have a sense of belonging.
Responding to the allegation that his interest in the Edo election is because he wants to use it as his final victory in politics before his retirement, he said, “a victory by the PDP and the installation of Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu as the next governor of Edo State will be the best thing to happen at this time for Edo State, the South-South geo-political zone and indeed the whole country. Edo State will breathe a gale force relief of fresh air and embrace a new lease of life. The Edo people need to regain their position of excellence in so many spheres once again.
“Among the lot of governorship candidates, only Pastor Ize Iyamu has an agenda of reasoned policies. Virtually all the notable political leaders and respected national elder statesmen of Edo State are in the PDP. They are all in full support of our candidate. The victory will be a high note success for all of them in their political careers.
“This election, by the grace of God, will not be the end of my political career; instead the victory will ensure the end of the reckless ambitions of the outgoing governor dreaming dreams to establish himself as the “Jagaban” of Edo State.
I predict that the PDP victory will usher in a governor who is set to hit the ground running and who will open up avenues for lucrative jobs for our teeming youths, pioneer an agrarian revolution for the state, provide shelter for our people through a simple but effective housing plan, ensure adequate medical facilities reach every nook and cranny and establish a guarantee that qualitative education will not be merely characterized by red colored aluminum roofs on a handful of selected wobbly structures.
He said he was sure of victory because, according to him, his party’s candidate is an experienced and trusted politician in the state. “It is important to note that it was Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu who as one of the strong pillars of the Action Congress (AC) party at its inception, acquired and paid for the party office on Airport Road. This may be new information to our dear Comrade who was not a member of the party at the time. The signboard in front of the property has since changed from AC – Action Congress, to ACN – Action Congress of Nigeria and today to APC. We have heard campaign comments on this election made by Adams Oshiomhole which are all mostly a variety insults to the elder statesmen of our party as well as the previous PDP governor of Edo State. The outgoing governor should have had the decency to admit that it was indeed Governor Lucky Igbinedion who recommended him to us and who also contributed substantial finance to the Comrade’s first election campaign.”
On the PDP crisis at the national level and in the state, Ikimi said, “The PDP secured national power in 1999 right at the beginning of this political dispensation and held power continuously for 16 years. The loss of the presidential election in 2015 put the party into the opposition for the first time. Managing a party in opposition is much different from managing one in power. The process needed now is to cleanse the party leadership and democratically install one that is strong, dependable and capable to rebuild the party.
“The country is certainly now in dire need of a well structured, stable opposition party. The PDP has viable structures nationwide but the process that brought in Ali Modu Sherrif as National Chairman was faulty. I was prepared to go along with him as National Chairman if it was for a specified brief period. I am afraid; I do not consider the actions of Ali Modu Sherrif since the first Port Harcourt Convention as the actions of someone who has the deeper interest of the party at heart. How, for instance, could he adopt someone who participated and lost the governorship primaries in Edo State as candidate. All the critical structures of the party support the Caretaker Committee and I believe the matter will very soon be appropriately resolved.”
