Edo Election: Obaseki Lists Achievement, Confident Of Violent-Free Poll

With the Edo State governorship election barely 48 hours from now, Governor Godwin Obaseki has listed the achievements of his administration since assuming office in November 2016.

Speaking during a state-wide broadcast at the Government House in Benin on Thursday, Obaseki said the state government has made giant strides in rewriting the development narrative of Edo.

“Since November 2016, we have made giant strides in rewriting the development narrative of our dear state. We have revamped our primary healthcare system through deep-rooted reforms.

“We have reformed our basic education to be more responsive to the needs of the 21st century by training teachers and introducing technology to our schools.

“We have rebuilt critical physical and digital infrastructure across the state; strengthened our security architecture; enacted civil service and pension reforms for productivity and sustainability and have created thousands of opportunities for our young people to be employed and empowered,” he said.

The governor also said he is confident that the election will be free from violence owing to the security arrangements put in place by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

READ BELOW HIS FULL STATEMENT AT THE STATE-WIDE BROADCAST:

My dear good people of Edo State, as you are already aware, the Edo State Governorship election will take place on Saturday, September 19, 2020. I am sure that you are also aware that I am seeking re-election as governor under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

My campaigns have taken me through every local government in Edo State. The ward-to-ward campaign offered me the opportunity to meet with thousands of people including farmers, teachers, traders, pensioners, civil servants and every other actor in the different spheres of life in Edo State.

Undoubtedly, the 2020 governorship election will be a watershed in the democratization process in our dear state and Nigeria at large. I assure you that at the end of this exercise, we would all be proud to be part of this history-making event.

My campaign across the 192 wards in the state offered me the opportunity to show the achievements recorded by my administration, including the over 2000 projects that dot the nooks and crannies of the state.

My party and I have ensured that my people-centred approach to politics, which is driven by our commitment to work for our people at the bottom of society is fostering development and participation in our politics.

From the hills of Kukuruku to the rice farms of Ilushi, through the maize fields at Sobe, to the lush forest in Urohi-Ojogba, and the forests and waters of the Ovia River, we have met with leaders of our traditional institutions, conversed with traders, journeyed with transporters, and met with pensioners and public servants who appreciate the work we have done in the last four years.

Since November 2016, we have made giant strides in rewriting the development narrative of our dear state. We have revamped our primary healthcare system through deep-rooted reforms. We have reformed our basic education to be more responsive to the needs of the 21st century by training teachers and introducing technology to our schools. We have rebuilt critical physical and digital infrastructure across the state; strengthened our security architecture; enacted civil service and pension reforms for productivity and sustainability and have created thousands of opportunities for our young people to be employed and empowered.

Some of our reforms have included energy projects such as the 55MW Ossiomo Independent Power Plant (IPP), which is completed and ready for commissioning, and the 6000bpd Edo Modular Refinery. We also have the Emotan Gardens, in which the first phase is completed.

With the critical physical and social infrastructure which we have started building, we have laid the foundation for the next four years and the future.

As we enter a post-COVID world, in the next four years, we will be focusing on our programmes to make Edo great again. Under our Making Edo Great Again (MEGA) manifesto, we will emphasis deeper governance reforms, including rebuilding the public service and emplacing a citizen-centric leadership through which we will continue to transform our social services and infrastructure. We will reposition the government as an enabler to consolidate and enhance our signature projects, such as Edo Jobs, Creative and Innovative Hubs, and industrialization projects.

The future will be driven by technology and data and Edo State will be repositioned to participate in the fourth industrial revolution.

Part of our plan to develop a large, local, sustainable economy will include accelerating our current initiatives in human capacity development, agribusiness, energy, and mining. Our legacy will be to leave for future administrations, a 30-year regional, urban, social and economic master-plan based on which Edo will regain its greatness.

We are very optimistic that Edo will be able to take advantage of the post-coronavirus world economy to achieve more in the second term than we did in our first term.

I implore you all to come out and re-elect me and my deputy, Philip Shaibu, by voting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the 19th of September, 2020.

We are trusting God Almighty that election day will be violent-free because of the preparations which have been made by security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Thank you

God bless Edo State.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria