A governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, Major General Charles Airhiavbere (retd), on Tuesday, stated that having made spirited attempts to win Edo election on three previous occasions, his wealth of experience put him in pole position to become the next state governor.
Airhiavbere, who once ran for governorship on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, also boasted that he has what it takes to collapse the structures of the PDP to further enhance his chances ahead of the September poll.
The aspirant made the submission when he arrived at the APC National Secretariat to submit his Expression of Interest and nomination forms in Abuja.
He said, “Just like our president, it is my turn to govern Edo State and the party needs a candidate with the capacity to face the incumbent governor, Godwin Obaseki. This 2024 is my fourth appearance in the Edo gubernatorial race. I have run three times on the platform of the APC and once on the platform of PDP. I was the candidate of the PDP in 2012 before leaving to join the APC and I can collapse the PDP structure for APC to win come September 21, 2024.
“The race to Edo state 2024 is to replace Governor Obaseki who has done seven years plus and by the special grace of the Almighty God, he will hand over to me on December 12, 2024. Let me take you into the insight of what I will do differently because no state in Nigeria today can say internally generated revenue can rise without bringing development partners. We have the opportunity to make Edo State safe and peaceful using the security apparatus available to us, using internal democracy. We cannot afford to receive vigilante and put arms in the hands of untrained people.
“In 2016, I was among the aspirants but Obaseki was picked. At that time, we listened to party leadership. We were told the best among us was Obaseki and that was why he was chosen. Unfortunately, he (Obaseki) took the governorship ticket in 2016 and ran away with it. He didn’t even consult us for contributions but carried on with the campaign, saying party leaders wanted him to share money. I wasn’t one of those that wanted him to share money. This year, the only thing I will do differently is to obey only the instructions from the APC headquarters in Abuja. If APC today says stop, I will stop. If they say move, I will move to make sure that we present the best candidates to win the election.”
The race to choose a viable candidate via the APC primary in Edo State has started gathering momentum.
