By Edwin George Agbonsuremi
Some Concerned Groups have uncovered discrepancies about the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Monday Okpebolo.
They include, among others, age discrepancies and falsification which are deemed as criminal offences. Records have shown that Monday Okpebholo has two different birthdays.
No doubt, APC Has no candidate in the 2024 Edo gubernatorial election, period!
A media organisation earlier dismissed a claim by the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Monday Okpebolo, on a flooded portion of an unspecified road in the Government Residential Area of Benin, the state capital.
The Media Team said it was worrisome that despite the enormous number of issues to be discussed during the ongoing governorship campaign in the state, the APC and its candidate, Okpebolo, “have made the peddling of lies and propaganda their primary focus.”
In a statement titled, ‘Monday Okpebolo’s comedy of errors in Benin GRA,’ which was issued by the group in Benin City, the state capital, the group referenced a video clip in which Okpebholo claimed that “his V8 SUVs could not drive through the flooded spot.
The media organisation noted, however, that another motorist driving “an Audi 80 saloon car drove through it easily with the driver smiling into the camera.”
The group noted that such an act was aimed to misinform and “deceive” the people of the state.
The statement read partly, “We are concerned that despite several appeals that the ongoing campaign be focused on issues, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, the leaders and now the candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, have made the peddling of lies and propaganda their primary focus.
“One of such happened on Thursday, May 16 wherein Okpebholo was seen in a video clip making wild allegations against the state government and Dr. Asue Ighodalo, the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the same election on account of a flooded portion of an unspecified road in GRA.
“However, contrary to Senator Okpebholo’s claim that his V8 SUVs could not drive through the flooded spot, an AUDI 80 saloon car drove through it very easily with the driver smiling into the camera.”
The group said it considered “all these half-truths, outright lies, misinformation, disinformation and propaganda unhealthy for the polity and all designed to deceive the good people of Edo State,” while calling on the “APC and their supporters to apply caution. Mercifully, Edo people are wiser, smarter and more discerning than the APC and Okpebholo can ever think or imagine.”
The statement read further, “We assert that, yes, Ighodalo has promised to ‘continue with the good policies of all previous administrations in the state, review those that deserved to be reviewed and do away with those that are not relevant or no longer meet the needs and aspirations of the people.’ If Okpebholo and Edo APC have a problem with that simple statement of intention, we are sorry, we cannot help them.
“On his part, Ighodalo is ready to continue with Edo BEST, civil service reforms, land use administration reforms, optimization of security, regular salaries payment to government workers, regular payment of pensions and gratuities and many more that have put smiles on the faces of Edo people. And, Edo people have heard the message loud and clear and aligned with him.”
It said the PDP governorship candidate remains committed to move Edo State from where it is now to a “First world sub-national government, a state where all Edo sons and daughters would be proud to call home and return to invest, live and holiday without any fears whatsoever.
“Ighodalo will not be deterred by APC and Okpebholo’s smear campaign of calumny and orchestrated regime of lies and propaganda. A fruitful tree will inevitably have stones thrown at it.”
. Edwin George Agbonsuremi writes from Benin, Edo State
