2027: Reelect us to complete what we started, Tinubu begs Edo people

By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA: President Bola Tinubu has asked the people of Edo State to give him a second term to finish the work his administration has begun in the state. Tinubu, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, made the appeal on Thursday in Benin City, where the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council APC-PCC held its rally in the state.

“We have come this far with your trust and we seek your mandate to finish the work we have begun,” Shettima told the crowd. He said some of the work had been completed, some were underway and other commitments remained. “We ask that our stewardship be judged by the lives our decisions have touched and the work we are determined to complete. We are determined to build roads on which a trader and aggregator could no longer lose money to delays,” he said.

He said work had begun to dualise the roads to Ekpoma, Auchi and Okene, while emergency repairs were ongoing on the Benin to Asaba road. “You have every right to hold us to our word until you can travel these roads in comfort,” he said. On power, the Vice President said gas now flows through the completed Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben pipeline, and that new transmission lines could carry an additional 600 megawatts onto the national grid.

He added that the University of Benin Teaching Hospital now offers radiotherapy to cancer patients, and that the Federal Government had supported 158 public health facilities across Edo. Shettima also said the administration had heard the demand for the return of the Benin treasures. “We have seen progress in this regard with Cambridge and Sweden transferring ownership of Benin treasures to Nigeria,” he said.

Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State told the Vice President to carry a message back to the President. “I need you to take this message back to Mr. President, that in Edo State we are ready. 16th January 2027,” he said. He said Edo had been turned into a construction site and credited the President’s “single courage” in removing the fuel subsidy and reforming the tax law.

The Director General of the APC-PCC, Abdulaziz Yari, said the party’s manifesto placed security first. “The first item on the agenda is saving lives and communities,” he said. Yari said the peace in the South-South had lifted national oil production to about 1.8 million barrels per day and that the party was looking to Edo for 2 million votes. The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, said Edo had already made up its mind.

“The election in Edo is over,” he said, quoting the Vice President. We will vote massively for the president come 16th of January 2027,” Akpabio said. He listed the extension of the Lagos-Calabar Highway across Edo, the recruitment of over 500 forest guards from among Edo youths and the establishment of an 83 Division of the Nigerian Army in the state among the President’s gains for Edo.

A former governor of Edo State, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, said the rally also marked the second anniversary of Okpebholo’s administration. “Today, as you can see, marks exactly two years anniversary of Governor Monday Okpebholo administration,” he said. Oshiomhole urged voters to back the party across the board. “If you want to give APC one vote, give to the President.

If you want to give us more than that, please give all of us, the three senatorial candidates. Because we need a cooperative Senate,” he said. The Governor of Imo State and Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, Senator Hope Uzodimma, told Edo residents to collect their permanent voter’s cards (PVCs) from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He said the governor had promised 2.5 million votes from the state. “If you collect your permanent voter’s card you have the weapon. The weapon we need on January 16th is the PVCs,” Uzodimma said.