Sen. Monday Okpebholo, the governor of Edo, has started visiting communities to learn about their needs and devise solutions for them instead of waiting for the election to use them as campaign issues.
Besides, the governor has vowed that in a matter of days, there would be mass defection from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as he said the party has become rudderless.
Speaking to journalists in Benin City, the special adviser to the governor on political mobilisation and engagement, Hon. Eugene Utubor, said the ongoing visitation to communities on behalf of the governor made a firsthand opportunity to see some of the challenges the people are confronted with.
According to him, “His Excellency forbids a situation where, a few days to the election, you start running to various communities. I know what we went through during our campaign, where you would go to communities without government presence, and we have said no to that, so what we are doing now is reaching out to various communities, engaging them, and knowing their immediate problems so that we can look for solutions immediately.
“I have returned from some communities in the Ikpoba-Okha local government area. I sat with the people, I saw their pains, and they told me what they are going through; no water, no public services. These are failures we recorded from the past administration, and we cannot continue with that.
“This is what we have been doing for the past week to know that we want to give water, give roads, and do human capacity.
“If we don’t have this synergy between the government and the people, we will be far from achieving development in the rural areas. We are reaching out to the rural communities, we want them to feel the impact that we have as a governor that knows them.”
On the defections recently experienced in the state house of assembly that has now made the All Progressives Congress (APC) the party with majority members, Utubor said, “The Bible says when the righteous are in power, the people rejoice. What do you expect from a governor who is performing? Why will they remain in the opposition, they have to unite with the governor to develop the state and they are tired of the fights in the party, factions here and there and they saw a governor who is performing so they have no option but to join hands with the governor to develop the state; more are still coming
“I just came from a place where former leaders of the PDP are collapsing their structure to join us, and by the next few weeks and months, Edo State will experience a political tsunami. They want to join hands with the governor to develop the state, and I can tell you that in the next few months, there won’t be PDP in Edo State because Okpebholo is doing what the people want.”
