The
Edo State Government has declared September 27 and September 28 as
public holidays for the conduct of the governorship election in the state.
The
rescheduled Edo State governorship election will hold on Wednesday,
September 28.
Governor
Adams Oshiomhole announced this on Saturday evening at an event
organised in his honour by the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress and
the Trade Union Congress in Benin.
The
governor explained that the holidays was aimed at providing all eligible voters
with the opportunity to relocate to their respective areas of registration.
He
said that the work-free days would also allow the voters to exercise their
constitutional rights.
Earlier,
the leadership NLC commended the Oshiomhole administration, which it said could
not be matched by previous administrations.
It
also said that it would not want the state to return to what it described
as “the years of the holocaust,” adding that the NLC would mobilise its members
in support of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Godwin Obaseki.
The
state Chairman of the union, Emmanuel Ademokun, listed some of the achievements
of the incumbent governor to include the appointment of two permanent secretaries
from the organised labour and increment of the minimum wage from N18,000 to
N25,000.
According
to him, others are prompt payment of workers’ salaries, interventions in the
the payment of local government workers, employment of 900 Information Communications
Technology staff into the civil service and the building of a twin Labour
House.
Ademokun
said, “A comparative analysis of this government with others that existed since
1991, when Edo State was created, reveals that the entire past(administrations)
could not achieve one-third of what the government of Oshiomhole has achieved
since 2008.”
Meanwhile,
A group, Forum of Uncommon Women, has condemned the alleged attack on the
convoy of the wife of the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Party, Dr. Idia Ize-Iyamu, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to provide a
level playing field for all political parties.
The
group made the call on Thursday after a meeting to assess political developments
in the state.
The
convoy of Ize-Iyamu’s wife was reportedly attacked on Tuesday during a
shop-to-shop campaign in a market in the Etsako Local Government Area.
She
was, however, said to have escaped unhurt.
But
the Director General of FUW, Mrs. Philomena Ihenhen, urged President Buhari to
see the September 28 governorship election as a litmus test of the sincerity of
his administration in ensuring a free, fair and credible poll.
“Although
the wife of the candidate was unhurt, several women in her entourage sustained
various injuries with one or two cars damaged. We condemn this attack and
consider it an affront on the entire Edo womenfolk,” Ihenhen said.
She
described voters in the state as enlightened residents who were ready to
protect their votes.
She
also said that the election was critical to the political development of the
country, adding that Nigerians, in general, were watching to see its outcome.
Ihenhen
added, “The Edo election is a litmus test of the sincerity of the Buhari
administration.
“Let
it be said for the deaf to hear that Edo people are ready to defend their
mandate and will not allow a subversion or corruption of our collective will.”
While
calling on security agencies to remain firm in their bid to stem rigging and
violence during the election, she also urged them to provide protection for all
citizens, no matter their political affiliation.
Ihenhen
said, “We are all equal stakeholders in the Edo project, in spite of our
political and ethic roots or leanings. We have a right under the law to be
served and protected by the security agencies, especially the police.
“A
situation where opposition PDP members are hounded, arrested and subsequently
detained by security agents is unwholesome, callous and injurious to our
polity.”
Source:The
Punch
Tags
Politics