With the right candidate, PDP will win Edo, says Edebiri

Chief Iyobosa Solomon Edebiri (OON) a.k.a. Ise (which means amen in Benin language) is a politician, philanthropist and one of the governorship aspirants in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo state ahead of the coming governorship election in the state. He spoke to Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu in Benin City on last weekend’s ward congress of the party and his expectation ahead of the governorship election.

Assessment of PDP ward congress

Looking at the conduct of the exercise, I can say that everything turned out very successful, there were skirmishes, but it is expected of any democratic process especially when you are carrying out a congress at a level that controls the party. The party is completely controlled by the ward, the ward is the determinant of who become local government chairmen, who becomes the state chairman and of course who becomes the governorship candidate because at that ward level, delegates are elected and these delegates are supposed to come together and elected governorship candidate and other candidates for other elective positions. So the ward is the most important arm of the party structure and I am very pleased with the way it was conducted.

Chances of winning the PDP governorship ticket

I can tell you in clear terms that I am the aspirant, if I tell you I am the aspirant to beat, it means my chances are very high, I see light at the end of the tunnel I can see hope for the people, I can see PDP doing the right thing for the people, I can see PDP organising a free and fair primaries I can see the result of the primaries being properly documented and I can see at the end of the day we carrying out a very formidable campaign to win the election so my chances in the party is super bright. The opportunities today means a lot for Solomon Edebiri and I look forward to clinching the ticket to represent the PDP, to fly the party’s flag for the coming governorship election.

Impact of moneybags in the campaign

I am not worried because PDP is not for sale, members of the PDP are also not for sale and a number of our members have grown in terms of their understanding of democracy, they have gone beyond selling their mandate for peanuts. So if you are a moneybag and you want to spend your money, the best way to spend it is to spend it to the needy, not trying to buy members of the PDP to support you. PDP members are wiser now, they want the party back in power, they want the party back in Osadebey Avenue and only credible candidates like me, only candidates that appeal to all across party lines that can win that mandate for PDP. Definitely the era of money flaunting is gone. There is no fear that some people have money because we all have money, but we will not spend our money to buy people to do the wrong thing, so they should better warn whoever has money, he should stop spending his money to buy the wrong things. I have the capacity to win this election and no one can stop us. I can assure you that for the primaries, no money can buy the heart and conscience of the people. I have the capacity to win this election and no one can stop us.

His programmes for the people

I have said it several times that Edo state is blessed with abundant natural resources, human resources, mineral resources and what have you but for me as governor of Edo state coming at a time when a number of facilities have gone moribund, my plans are very clear that I will revive all the moribund companies so that we can give our youths work, then focus on new industries that are tied up to agro-development so that we can produce rice and other farm produce to feed the people and export and earn a lot of foreign exchange for our dear state,

PDP’s chances at the election

The chances are high if the right candidate is selected. Once the party picks the right candidate, I can tell you that PDP has the capacity to win, once we pick the right candidate, I can tell you that PDP has won the election in Edo state, it is based on the candidate the party chooses, if it chooses the right candidate, it will win because we have the right ideas. So PDP needs to do the needful, they need to get it right and they need to ensure that at the primaries level, the right candidate is selected and then the election will be sorted out.

Assessment of Adams Oshiomhole’s administration

When Oshiomhole came in, the graph was below zero, it went below the bar but he took us out of that point, we came to parallel level and he then moved us probably you look at schools, he has been building schools, you look at roads, he did some roads, hospital so he has moved from where this graph was. But we have said it is not enough, he has concentrated on specific areas and ignored a number of areas that will give better value to what he has done. I will give an example, we have got red roofs and red walls, under the red roofs and behind the red walls, what do we have, only few schools have furniture and teachers so if you move out of Benin, teachers are very few sometimes even two in secondary schools, what about libraries, what about laboratories, they do not exist in most of these schools. What about capacity building? He had bad advisers who did not focus on critical areas of the state. But if we come in, we will start from where he stopped, we will focus on areas he has neglected and we will improve on the areas he has concentrated on.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign

If the PDP comes to power tomorrow, they will say the same thing, if APGA comes to power tomorrow, they will say the same thing so I will not say much on that.

Message to the followers and supporters

I ask my followers to be focused and be assured that we have the winning card and we are going to win the primaries and they should about telling the people all the good things about Solomon Edebiri, keep telling the good things so that even when the time comes they will know that they have to play a part.