The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, says the All Progressives Congress (APC) will reclaim Edo State in the September 19 governorship election as the incumbency of Governor Godwin Obaseki has “coma”.
Sylva said this on Tuesday while speaking with journalists at the APC national secretariat in Abuja after a closed-door meeting with the Contacts and Mobilisation Sub- Committee of the National Campaign Council.
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The former governor, who said that the coming election is a must-win for the APC, rued the loss of Bayelsa and Edo State to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) through back doors.
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.”
Sylva, while reacting to the power of incumbency of Governor Obaseki, said: “It is (Edo) 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 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 has a comma and that is why 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.”
