By Raphael Okhiria
Hon. Kassim Afegbua, a former commissioner for Information in Edo state, has declared that the 2024 gubernatorial election in the state is open to all interested persons irrespective of where they came from in the state.
Afegbua who stated this during a media briefing in Benin City with newsmen at the secretariat of the Correspondents’ chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, insisted that the governorship seat “has never been a zoning arrangement in Edo state”.
The former state commissioner disclosed that those clamouring for zoning were missing the point and the whole essence of democracy.
Afegbua who’s aspiring for the governorship position under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said merit should be used in choosing the governor of the state, noting: “There has never been zoning of governorship positions in Edo State. Anyone who says that there is zoning will be missing the point altogether.
“In 2007, Adams Oshiomhole contested for the governorship position, and he brought his popularity as the National President of the NLC to Edo State. He contested on the platform of AC, which later became ACN and later APC, and won against the PDP.
“Then the state had four ministers from Edo Central and also Prof. Osunbor, who was governor then (before he was ousted by a court), and nobody zoned anything to anybody. From then to now, every primary conducted by the PDP or APC has been contested by candidates from the three zones.
“The state cannot afford to be in opposition anymore when we have a Federal Government that is poised to renew our hope and take us to a place of prosperity, economic strength, stability, and pride.
“I am determined to make a big difference with positive impacts. With the people’s support, I will redefine the essence of governance for the benefit of our people.
“The era of lamentation will be gone when I take the lead. Edo must rise again; she must rise from the ashes of this present misgovernance to a state that will occupy its rightful place in the assembly of states in Nigeria”, he added.
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