A top chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Uhunmwode Local Government Area of Edo State, Daniel Noah Osa-Ogbegie, on Thursday, dumped the party for presenting what he described as “dour governorship ticket”. He said the fact that the party actually fielded the duo of Senator Monday Okpebholo and Hon. Dennis Idahosa “was clear to me that Edo APC was not serious about the election and was not serious about presenting viable governance to Edo people or both”.
In a resignation letter addressed to the Ward Chairman of Uhunmwode Ward 2 Uhi, Osa-Ogbegie said that, as an Edo centered person who believes strongly in a renaissance driven by its people under a sound and correct leadership, the APC candidate does not fill him with “confidence as that leader that can lead the Edo renaissance I have always wanted”.
He added that as a honourable man, he would rather resign his membership than work against the party “as I cannot, in good conscience, campaign for the ticket of Senator Monday Okpebholo and Representative Dennis Idahosa. My conscience could not allow me and our ancestors would not have forgiven me”.
In a related development, APC leadership in the state is battling with what an insider described as “a very challenging problem that has defiled any solution”. The source identified the problem as the “absconditus perception of the APC candidate by the public in Edo State”.
He said that the issue is giving leaders and stakeholders of the party a serious nightmare.
The source said that the party leaders are at their wits end, saying “they don’t know what to do next with Okpebholo’s hide-and-seek game as we speak. They are tired of his reluctance to engage with the people. Everybody is tired of his preference to hide and avoid the public and attend to important engagements. How can a governorship candidate be hiding from the people he wants to govern?
“Almost all the leaders are tired. They don’t know what to do again. Can’t you see other candidates? They are all out in the street, meeting groups, community leaders, and market women and appearing on online engagements. But here, all efforts to make him at least come out, engage and interact with the people have all failed. That is the problem on the ground now”.
The source identified several high profile public engagements that Okpebholo has stylishly evaded in recent times, giving the flimsiest of excuses. He was particularly angry over the highly publicised Benson Idohasa University’s ‘Thinkers Nest’ that scheduled meetings for all the three leading candidates to engage the institution’s President, Rt Rev. Festus Idahosa, students and staff, and by extension Edo citizens and the general public on their perspectives on ‘The Future of Edo State’.
While the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Asue Ighodalo honoured the invitation on 16 April and walked tall from the event for a sterling performance , the Labour Party candidate, Olumide Akpata had his chance on 18 April , but Okpebholo failed to show up on Monday, 22 April. The APC candidate’s failure to make an appearance on the scheduled date instantly set the internet abuzz with ‘Monday failed on Monday’ trending hilariously on the social media.
The source also expressed concern about the many gaffes that usually characterise Okpebholo’s few public engagements, saying, “honestly we are in a dilemma in APC. People are even asking if there is nothing the party can do now to remedy the situation and it is like nothing. Even the online interviews with bloggers and other influencers, he is running away from them. How will the people hear him? This is a proper bad market”, the source fumed.
