As the governorship election in Edo State approaches, an aspirant for the position of governor, Mr. Darlington Iyoha, has vowed dislodge Governor Godwin Obaseki in the much awaited poll.
Iyoha said his resolve to oust Obaseki was borne out of the passion to usher in good governance that would bring democracy dividends to the suffering masses of Edo state.
He bemoaned that good governance had eluded the state since the advent of democracy in 1999, saying he had decided to plunge into the race to change the narratives and restore participatory and beneficial governance to Edo State.
Iyoha unveiled his intention to contest the election on the platform of the People’s Party of Nigeria (PPN).
He said he was astounded that Edo citizens had been made to suffer due to lack of commitment and innovations by the past and present chief executives, in spite of the humongous resources accruing to their respective governments.
He promised to change the face of governance in Edo State and rewrite the history by correcting the mistakes of the past and pioneer an all-inclusive governance that would change the landscape for better in the state.
Iyoha promised to bring radical changes in the area of standard and affordable education from primary to university level, introduce commercial agriculture, harness the tourism potential of the state, build civil service restructuring and decentralise development to halt the rural-urban by the youths.
“Aside from the foregoing, youth unemployment will be one of our focal points. Available statistics indicated that Edo State has one of the highest indices of youth unemployment in the country. This is not a good story to narrate.
“In every advanced country, the security of lives and property remains the best impetus to investment drives. We are going to provide an enabling environment for investors to partner the state to be able to tap into the state’s human and environmental resources.
“During the highly-rewarding period of the old Western region, Edo was renowned as the hub of palm oil production in the country. We are going to return to that era by ensuring that we produce palm oil that can sustain our local economy and ignite foreign earnings for our state.
“Most disturbing was the rate at which many state’s investments were either moribund or allowed to decay. Under my watch, all the dead and ailing public industries will be revamped and this we will be accomplished via a pubic-private partnership that is in vogue all over the world.
“We are not also oblivious of the fact that infrastructural development is a catalyst to investment drive. All the intra and inter-state roads will be given attention to attract people of means to our dear state.
“We know that education remains the best weapon to combat the monster called poverty and bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. We are going to reshape the sector in a manner that will ensure that there won’t be any impediment for the children of the poor to go to school on account of paucity of funds.
“We are also determined to banish the culture of brigandage and desperation from our politics. In the last few days, we could all see the ding dongs resonating across the state as a result of the struggle for power. We are going to redirect the psyches of our people to believe in civility while seeking power.
“All these and many more are in the pipelines for our people, and we are going to sell these in the course of our electioneering across the state,” he stated.