One of the aspirants for the Edo State Gubernatorial election, Prof Sylvester Akhaine, has suspended his campaign till further notice just six days before the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary. Prof. Felix Oriakhi, the Director General of the Sylvester Odion Akhaine Campaign Organisation, made this announcement in a statement.
The National Gubernatorial Aspirants Screening Committee had cleared 12 aspirants, including Prof. Akhaine, for participation in the primary on February 17. However, Prof. Akhaine has withdrawn from the race before the primary.
The statement announcing the suspension of the campaign reads, “We embarked on intense consultations and meetings with key political actors and the All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwarts in Edo State for the gubernatorial election scheduled for September 21, 2024. Our participation went beyond routine participation in the political process. We had a seven-point Agenda that traversed education, culture and tourism, agriculture, healthcare, infrastructure, security, and job creation. Our quest was based on the belief that social justice and equity will triumph over the current skewed governance structure of the state to the detriment of the Edo Central Senatorial District. Our assertion takes judicious notice of specious arguments to the contrary. The perpetuation of the status quo alluded to above will only leave our state divided, despite a common ancestry, to the detriment of the goals of development.
“Today, Nigerians are impoverished by the cumulative ill-conceived policies of successive governments. Improvement will come by creating enclaves of development that our candidate, Prof. Akhaine, has an unquestionable capacity to do. Our party needs to demonstrate that it will field candidates without questionable characters. Therefore, on behalf of Prof. Akhaine, our organisation has decided to suspend its participation in the current run-up to the party primaries until further notice.”