Edo Situation Needs Serious Intervention, I Will Turn Things Around, Akpata Promises

•Decries rate of violence trailing campaigns

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin-City

Labour Party (LP) candidate in the September 21 governorship election in Edo State, Mr. Olumide Akpata, yesterday, described the state of affairs in the state as “desperate situation in need of serious intervention”.

Akpata promised to turn things around for good and uplift the people’s living conditions if elected.

He addressed journalists in Benin City on the party’s experience after campaigning in the 18 local government areas of the state twice, to understand the mood of the people and what they were encountering as citizens of the state.

Akpata said his team discovered that several communities across the state lacked basic social amenities of life, citing Urhonigbe and Eme-Ora that have not had electricity for the last 10 and four years, respectively. He said the report indicated that many of the communities lacked roads, schools, health centres, and other facilities.

The LP candidate stated, “The situation we saw is nightmarish, but this is the situation of the Edo people on a daily basis. The farmers are unable to evaluate their produce to the markets. The situation is not only in the hinterland, the approach to Benin City, the state capital, all the roads are a nightmare, flooding everywhere.

“The state of affairs I have presented is the mis-governance of the APC and PDP that have been in the helm of affairs of the state for the past 25 years.”

He stated that poverty had been weaponised, which in turn made politics monetised, and cited many of the communities the party took its campaign to, where they demanded provision of transformers, construction of their roads, and other facilities before they could give the party a listening ear.

Akpata said, “Our visit showed the government fell short. We have seen schools that are in such decrepit conditions. Government at all levels have become transactional and abandoned their responsibilities to the people.”