Seven Governorship Aspirants Stepped Down For Ize-Iyamu

Seven governorship aspirants have stepped down for Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu as their consensus governorship aspirant to contest for the governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The aspirants include Pius Odubu, Engr. Chris Ogiemwonyi, Major Gen. Charles Airhiavbere (rtd), Hon. Johnson Agbonyima, Saturday Uwulekhue and Prof. Ebegue Amadasun —  The seventh aspirant, Solomon Edebiri was said to have voluntarily withdrawn from the race.

The negotiation for the aspirants to agree on a consensus was reached Tuesday night in Abuja and Ize-Iyamu was said to have come tops after screening by a committee set up for the selection‎ exercise, according to Vanguard.

The incumbent governor Godwin Obaseki and Ize-Iyamu will now battle for the APC governorship ticket on June‎ 22.

According to the report, all the aspirants in the contest have jointly contributed to buy APC’s N22.5 million Nomination and Expression Interest Form for Ize-Iyamu.

A statement by the Director of Communication of Ize-Iyamu Campaign Organisation, John Mayaki shortly after he picked the nomination form described it as “another stride in the quest to move Edo State forward.”

He said: “By obtaining the form today, we have formally placed our name on the party’s ballot for our internal primary next month. It is another great stride and we are thankful to the other aspirants who have joined us here today to offer support.”

There have been efforts to cause disunity in our party and pit people against each other by those who have sadly embraced politics without principles and are openly rebelling against the leadership of our party because they believe they have absolute power. But as it is clear from today’s event, Edo APC is united and these deviants may have a loud voice but they don’t represent the majority.

“Everyone here may have personal ambitions but we are bound together by the common desire to fast-track the transformation of our state through a transparent, effective, and accountable governance that will improve the living standards and social well-being of our people.”