Third Term Bid: Oshiomhole ‘Boys’ Regroup, Vow to Stop Alimikhena’s Aspiration in 2023

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin-city

Ahead of 2023 general election, political tension has begun to build up in the Edo North Senatorial district of Edo State as core loyalists to former Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, have commenced regrouping, and vowed to stop Senator Francis Alimikhena’s bid to come back to the Senate.

Following this development, the group vowed to sustain the pressure on the former state governor to throw his hat into the senatorial ring for the senatorial district.

The group, which met under the platform of the South South Movement (SSM), Edo North chapter, told journalists that the incumbent member, representing the district in the Senate, has not met the aspiration of the people to deserve another shot at the Senate.

Led by the former Executive Director,

Ministry of Lands and Survey, Edo State and Deputy Director of the group, Alhaji Mustapher Buddy; APC chieftain, Mr. Vitalis Eshokene; Hon. Ojisua Akojima David and Felix Ughiovhe, the group said most of the projects executed by Alimikhena are merely ‘ceremonial’ in nature and non-functional.

Eshokene, who spoke on behalf of the movement, Edo North chapter, said: “In my Etsako East Ward 9 and 10, the boreholes are ‘ceremonial’ because they cease to function after inauguration. Alimikhena has boasted that the few individuals he has empowered will take him to the Senate for the third time.

“We don’t have problem with him giving Greek Gifts to few individuals in the name of empowerment, what we are saying is that he has failed to meet the collective interest of our people.

“He (Alimikhena) was a principal member of the Senate in his first term, and there was no significant project he attracted to the area with this position. Look at what Prof Julius Ihonvbvere is doing in Owan federal constituency with laudable people-oriented projects.

“We are saying this because we hear he is telling people that he will be a principal member if he is given another opportunity. For us, he had had his

chances and failed to use it for the betterment of the district.”

The group spokesperson, who branded Alimikhena as a sleeping senator, further noted that: “To change this narrative that is why we are routing and mobilising for Oshiomhole to come and replicate what he did as the governor in the area.

“People may want to say it is not the same thing being a governor and a senator, but past experiences have shown that Oshiomhole sees the people as the centre point of his policies.

“We are not just talking, we are already working the talk by mobilising fund both

for the campaign and the buying of form for the former governor, who has done a lot not just for the people of Edo North senatorial district, but the entire state.”