Edo 2024: Ganduje Alerted As Okpebholo Risks Losing APC’s Ticket

• The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, has been alerted of the party's chances at the upcoming gubernatorial poll
• Ganduje was hinted by a concerned APC group that one of the party's aspirants has a questionable record
• They questioned the loyalty of this aspirant to the party after he allegedly refused to endorse the anointed candidate for the Senate presidency as instructed by President Bola Tinubu

Legit.ng journalist Segun Adeyemi has over 9 years of experience covering political events, civil societies, courts, and metro

FCT, Abuja - A faction within the All Progressives Congress (APC), identified as Concerned Edo Youths, has cautioned the party's national leadership against nominating Monday Okpebholo, the senator representing Edo Central, as its candidate for the upcoming 2024 governorship election.

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Expressing their concerns in a statement on Thursday, December 7, Shuaibu Francis, the group's coordinator, asserted that choosing Okpebholo as the party's candidate would diminish its chances of success in the election, alleging that the senator is involved in activities contrary to the party's interests.

He said:

“We have it on good authority that the distinguished senator has been engaged in activities that would not lead to the progress of the party.

Senator Okpebholo's alleged betrayal of Tinubu, Akpabio

Francis alleged that in the build-up to the election for senate president, Senator Okpebholo went against the wishes of the party and queued up behind Abdulaziz Yari, a former governor of Zamfara state, against the current senate president, Godswill Akpabio.

He said:

"The leaders of APC should note that a man that can arrogantly disregard the decision of Mr. President is capable of betraying the trust of the party.

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“He has also reportedly claimed that he will buy the APC in the state to ensure he emerges the candidate of the party ahead of the governorship election but he is yet to do anything significant in the senate.

“Some days ago, he reportedly accused Governor Godwin Obaseki of mismanaging funds meant as aid to the people of Edo for the removal of subsidies on petrol, but he has not set a good example as senator.”

Suspicion over Okpebholo's academic record

Francis also raised doubts about Okpebholo's educational background, describing it as a "mystery" and suggesting that a thorough investigation into his history could adversely affect the APC.

He said:

“We challenge the distinguished senator to tell us what degrees he obtained as academic qualifications because no one seems to know where he graduated from."

The coordinator urged Abdullahi Ganduje, the national APC chair, and other party leaders to carefully vet all individuals vying for the party's governorship ticket, emphasising the need to consider more qualified candidates within the APC who could effectively compete with potential candidates from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP).

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Edo 2024: Governor Obaseki speaks on preferred successor

Meanwhile, Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki, has said anyone who will succeed him must have experience in governance.

Obaseki noted that he did not have a preferred candidate for his successor but stressed that he must have seen what the person who would succeed him had done.

According to the governor, anyone who wanted his support must think of the continuity of what he had done.

Source: Legit.ng