A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former chairman of Owan West Local Government Council, Hon. Frank Ilaboya, has appealed to all political parties that will be participating in the September 21st Edo governorship election to campaign on issues that will be of interest to the public and not to engage in a campaign of calumny.
Ilaboya, in an interview with the media in Abuja, however, expressed optimism that his party, the APC, will triumph during the election.
“I just want to appeal that this governorship campaign should be a decent one. This era of democracy, we need decency. But I can assure you that there is no way APC will not have an upper hand in this election because looking at the previous results from my local government, the difference between the two major parties has always been very marginal. And now, the big actors are back in APC. They will play a factor in the election but I can assure you that at the end of the day, the result will speak for itself,” he said.
Ilaboya, a veteran journalist and former chairman of the Edo State Football Association, said the beauty of democracy is that it gives room for many political parties to compete but the party with the highest numbers wins.
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“Everybody will be working but the party that works hardest will emerge as winners at the end of the day. In the three senatorial districts, just look at the pendulum, DENCO is a big factor in Edo South, and with other people coming to join soon, Edo South will not be the way it was before and Edo Central where you have the real battleground because the two major frontrunners are from there. The major area will be that of Edo North.
“Having Comrade Adams Oshiomole leading from the front, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, chairman of the party, Emperor Jarrett Tenebe, Patrick Giwa and my humble self as a former council chairman from the same zone, you can understand is going to be a battle royale. As I said, the result will determine who owns the land.
“Politics is like football, you pick your angle, because you look at the area where you have a comparative advantage, you work on it and get the number. But I can tell you that APC have a serious comparative advantage in Edo North.
“I am happy to be back home. Everybody knows my antecedents in APC through our former governor, now a senator, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who actually brought me up. I’m happy I have teamed up with him. You saw the formal decamping of eight of us about two weeks ago.
“I think the next aspect now is to sensitise our supporters, galvanise them because the task ahead is huge. But the thing is that we are equal to the task. We have been talking to our supporters, galvanising them, telling them the new direction.
“Now that INEC has lifted the ban on campaigns, they will see the crowd that will come with us. In Owan West, we have the House of Representatives leader, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, the immediate past Clerk of the House of Representatives, Patrick Giwa and humble myself also coming in. With that, we will have a formidable force and definitely, it is going to be a big one,” Ilaboya told Tribune Online.
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