Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The National secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was agog on Thursday afternoon when the party’s candidate for the September 19, 2020 Edo State governorship election, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the Deputy Senate President, Omo-Agege, and the governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma held a strategic meeting of the National Campaign Council ahead of the poll.
The party’s candidate for the Edo poll, Ize-Iyamu, had arrived about 2.30pm, while the Imo governor arrived 30 minutes later before the Deputy Senate President completed the high profile members of the Campaign Monitoring sub-committee in attendance for the meeting.
Although they hurriedly left the secretariat in convoy after after 45 minutes stormy meeting, the governor of Imo simply described it as a mere sub-committee meeting.
On Tuesday, the Contact and Mobilisation Committee of the APC Campaign Council had in attendance the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva among others during the sub-committee’s inaugural meeting at the secretariat.
Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, the former Bayelsa governor, had declared the Edo poll as a must win, warning that the power of incumbency will not stop the APC moving train from winning the election.
He said: “The Edo people know that Edo State is for APC and I want to assure you that we are in touch with our people in Edo State and we know that we are the dominant party in Edo State and we are going to win this election.”
On the threat of the party going into extinction in the South-South with the PDP taking over the zone, he said: “All of us in the South South believe that this election must be won. Edo State is our only APC state in the South South.
“A few months ago, as you are all aware, they took Bayelsa State from us through the back door after we won the election and now through the back door again, they have taken Edo State but luckily, we have the opportunity of reclaiming Edo State in a few weeks from now and every South South APC member is of the consensus that we must reclaim Edo.
“It is our stronghold in the region and therefore, we are all geared up, we will all go to Edo State. We want to assure you that you should not entertain any doubt that Edo State will be an APC state very soon come the election in September,” he boasted.