Edo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation Mr. Louis Odion has affirmed Governor Adams Oshiomhole as a serious contender for next year’s presidential election.
Odion, who spoke yesterday in Benin, insisted that the governor is better equipped to lead the nation and rescue the citizenry from bondage.
He said the governor has better credentials than other APC presidential aspirants and more suitable to pick the party’s ticket next month.
He said: “It is not a rumour; it is a fact that Oshiomhole is in the race. But if you expect the kind of jamboree that is currently taking place, where people embark on road show, promising heaven and earth, Oshiomole is not going to do that.
“I can tell you he is in the race. It is in response to the yearnings of well-meaning Nigerians; our country needs somebody of his pedigree at this point of our history to move Nigeria forward.
“You will even recall early this year, when Governor Fashola said the nation needs somebody like Oshiomhole as president to change Nigeria.
“And Fashola, as we all know, is a performing governor. But he said being somebody that has stayed in Benin City before as a student of UNIBEN, he knows what Benin is then and today. And that is why he said Oshiomhole is a good material.”
The commissioner added that as a journalist, he has taken time to read reports as well as appraise those who have so far declared interest in the Presidency within the APC.
His words: “Of course, you have somebody like General Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
“The Speaker of the House Aminu Tambuwal has also been mentioned as a possible candidate and my brother and friend, Sam Ndah, has also been mentioned.
“But when I look at the parade, I sometime don’t get inspire with some of the sentiments they advance for joining the race. People will say okay Buhari is a regional champion and that he is the only one who can galvanise vote from the North. And in terms of qualification, Atiku is regarded as someone who has deep pocket. For Rabiu Kwankwaso, he is somebody who is very effective in Kano State. For Tambuwal, some will say whereas he seems to offer freshness, his own disability is that he has not had the experience.
“And for Sam Ndah, I read where he was described as a man of novel ideas. I think in all of them, Oshiomhole stands taller in the sense that he is the only one who offers a pan-Nigeria perspective. Oshiomhole is going to come in, not as a candidate of the South-South, but as a man whose face is known in every nook and cranny of Nigeria. That is what he is bringing in. His own credential is leadership and integrity.”
Odion noted that as NLC leader, the governor had the responsibility of leading the workers’ union, which he also described as the most cohesive and cutting across all the nation’s divides.
Oshiomhole, the commissioner added, had the opportunity of leading NLC for eight years, adding that he acquitted himself creditably.
“As a matter of fact, one will regard him as the most successful labour leader we ever had in post-colonial Nigeria. And after leaving NLC, people like the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi thought he should give the Presidency a shot. But he said well, I needed to start from somewhere.
“He started from Edo State and of course, he is serving a second term as governor. When he came, some people said there was difference between unionism and politics, and that good unionists don’t make good leaders. But Oshiomhole has proved them wrong today. He has delivered on his mandate massively in the last six years.
“So, the idea now is that if he is given the opportunity, he will deliver Nigeria from the present bondage that we have. So, I want to tell you that Oshiomhole is in the race and I tell you of all the candidates I see so far within the APC, he offers the greatest hope for Nigeria.”
