Former Bayelsa State governor and Minister of Petroleum, Timipre Sylva has said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) would retain its grip on Edo State in the forthcoming governorship election slated for September.
He made the declaration on Tuesday while speaking with newsmen shortly after the inaugural meeting of the Contact and Mobilisation Committee of the APC National Campaign Council for the South-South State.
The incumbent Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki has since defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where he has emerged as the main opposition’s party candidate.
The former Bayelsa state governor who claimed that both Bayelsa and Edo State were taken from the APC through the back door, however, expressed confidence that Edo state would be regained in September.
He insisted that incumbency would not be a factor in the Edo State election.
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 to the election in September.
“Election is not all about finance. First, if you say the power of incumbency, it is an APC incumbency that has been stolen by the PDP. So, that kind of incumbency we believe that such incumbency will not work. 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.”
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