Benin City, the capital of Edo State, virtually stood still on Sunday as thousands of supporters of the Action Congress of Nigeria defied the early morning rain to embark on a victory procession round the city to celebrate the re-election of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as Governor of Edo State in the July 14 governorship poll.
The ACN faithful spontaneously thronged the streets after the result of the July 14 election was announced by INEC.
Oshiomhole, who later joined the victory lap round the city, thanked the people of the State for turning out en masse to vote for him for a second term in office.
The Governor said the result of the election, which he described as “landslide victory.” is a true reflection of the wish of the people.
He assured the people of the state that with his re-election, more development would come to every part of the state as he promised during his campaigns.
He said: “God has blessed our project, it is finished. Now is the time to give thanks to God, that today, a Holy Sunday, the people of Edo State have spoken across Edo South, across Edo Central, across Edo North our people are united by a common desire to build a new Edo State. to consolidate on our projects and together to take Edo State to the next level.
“I thank you for standing on your feet. On our feet, we shall fight for freedom, we shall never go on our knees. You young ones must remember that this fight was and is for your tomorrow. It’s for your freedom, your right to choose who governs you. We must make a statement that election riggers are out of business. What we owe is to sustain the development programmes.”
A former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said that democracy as expressed in the unfettered will of the people to choose their leader is the greatest winner in weekend’s governorship election in Edo State that saw the re-election of Oshiomhole.
The former Vice President made the assertion on Sunday in Abuja while congratulating Oshiomhole on his re-election.
Abubakar, in a statement by his media office in Abuja, said the decision of the people of Edo State to re-elect Oshiomhole is a clear confirmation that the people are satisfied with the performance of their governor in his first term in office.
He said that it is becoming increasingly clear that Nigerians are ready to take full advantage of democracy as a system of representative government following the way in which the election was monitored by Nigerians via the social media platforms.
He commended the people of Edo State for the discipline and tolerance they had exhibited in expressing their choice in the election.
“The way and manner the people of Edo State conducted themselves at the polling booths in weekend’s governorship election has further bolstered my confidence that democracy has indeed come to stay in Nigeria,” Abubakar said.
While also commending the candidate of his own ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Major General Charles Airhiavbere (rtd), for making himself available as a formidable democratic alternative in the Edo election, the former Vice President noted that the loss in Edo State should be taken in good faith as it was never a do-or-die affair, in the first place.
He said that the Edo loss is not a referendum on the PDP, as some may want to posit, but offers unique opportunity for the ruling party to reflect on the way forward.
He said it is imperative more than ever before for the PDP to retool the ruling party as the only viable platform for achieving the socio-political and economic aspirations of all Nigerians.
The former Vice President urged the Independent National Electoral Commission not to rest on its oars but to use upcoming elections to perfect its processes ahead of the 2015 general election.
The Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has also congratulated Oshiomhole on his victory in Saturday’s governorship election.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Olayinka Oyebode, Fayemi described Oshiomhole’s victory as a well deserved reward for his purposeful leadership and the positive impact his administration has made on the lives of the Edo people.
Fayemi also hailed the Edo State electorate for coming out en masse and for being bold and courageous in taking their electoral decision based on critical evaluation of the ability, credibility and antecedence of the candidates.
Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State said tt was a well-deserved victory for Oshiomhole.
The governor also felicitated with Justice Aloma Maryam Mukhtar on her appointment as the first female Chief Justice of Nigeria.
The Chairman of the Interim Committee of the factional Nigeria Football Association, Jarret Tenebe, has equally congratulated Oshiomhole.
Tenebe charged him to use sports to reinvent the state in his second term.
Tenebe, who was the Director General of Mathew Iduoriyekemwe against PDP’s flagbearer at their party primaries, said: “The people of Edo State have popularly elected their choice. This has to be respected as such. It was a massively popular election. We wish him well in the bid to take our people to the height of governance. God be with him.
“I wish the governor will in this term look carefully to reinventing Edo state as the mecca of sports in Nigeria in his second term. Edo used to be the numero uno of sports and we can get back to that stage in a short while if the governor will make it a corner stone of delivery in this new term.
“Sports is one industry that can open as much as one million employment spaces and an unquantifiable income. Apart from the fact that Edo used to be the home of football, weightlifting, remember the Ogbe Hard Court tennis, athletics and boxing. Why can’t we make Edo come back and deliver a greater value to our youths using sports? This is my only wish and demand from the Comrade.”
The re-election of Oshiomhole has been described as the fairest and freest in the history of Nigeria because God presided over the exercise across the state.
This was the position of the Priest in Residence, St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Benin City, Edo State, Rev. Fr. Peter Oshomah, during a thanksgiving mass attended by Oshiomhole shortly after he was pronounced winner of the July 14 governorship election.
According to the cleric: “You can see from the attitude of Edo people that they want a change. Comrade Oshiomhole has shown us that when the people are put first, every other things will follow. We have seen he is capable.
“God has elevated him, just like Jesus Christ, because anybody Jesus came in contact with never remains the same again, and Oshiomhole has touched the lives of the people also. Even from the opposition political parties, they acknowledge that Oshiomhole is doing well.
“Oshiomhole has thread the path of Jesus and God has elevated him. He has made history because he cooperated with God.”
The governor who defied the early morning rain joined thousands of his supporters said he decided to give thanks to God for the victory.
“For the first time we have an unprecedented free and fair election. For the first time the people spoke in unison across the 192 wards in the three senatorial districts, the people were united to ask me to continue in office,” he noted.
The governor who maintained that the people have been reunited with this mandate promised to use it to deliver the greatest good to the greatest number of people in the shortest time.
While appreciating the support of the Oba of Benin, the Christian and non-Christian community, Comrade Oshiomhole disclosed that he will consciously work hard to reunite the people of Edo State the way they were united, burying those sentiments of ethnicity in the polity.
The Action Congress of Nigeria has also hailed the courage and determination of the people of Edo State, who defied all odds to vote and defend their votes in order to return Oshiomhole to the Government House another four years of superlative action.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the good people of Edo State have shown, by the action, that true sovereignty lies with the people.
“The courageous and determined people of Edo state refused to be intimidated by the massive deployment of security forces by the PDP-control
led federal government. They overcame the shenanigans of a colluding INEC and rendered irrelevant the dirty tricks of misguided moneybags. In the end, they shut out the do-nothing PDP,” it said.
The ACN said the lessons to be drawn from the party’s landslide victory over the PDP include that even one million soldiers cannot change the course of history when they confront a determined people, that there is always a reward for any elected official who truly serves the people, and that the people reserve the inalienable right to choose those who will lead them.
The statement added: “But perhaps the biggest lesson for the PDP and its bunch of election manipulators, led by one Mr. Fixer who has now been fixed for good, is that no good advert can sell a bad product – which the PDP has become in Nigeria.
”The PDP went into the election with a huge war chest, backed by all the big names that included the President, his deputy, ministers and other top government officials, and still lost to the ACN, which could only muster its party machinery and showcase the good works of its candidate in his first term. This shows that the so-called federal might is only useful if it can bring prosperity to the people.”