Ahead of the forthcoming Edo State Governorship election, former Personal Assistant to Senator Francis Alimikhena’s, Mr Benjamin Atu has revealed that the people of Edo North may have concluded plans to recall the incumbent Senator Adams Oshiomhole from the Senate due to the vacuum of leadership and climate of impotence that has swept a wave of outrage voices of articulating grievances across Edo North.
“The essence of representative democracy and government is that the people elect a person to represent their interests and views. The quality of democracy will rise and fall with the quality of representation and meeting citizens’ expectations. Citizens will have faith in democracy if they are properly represented and can ‘see and feel’ the fruits of democracy. But today in Edo North, democracy is not responding to the needs of the poor and deprived in the society while we have muted trumpet in the Senate”.
He said Edo North is currently asleep in terms of effective representation in the Senate without any viable motion and Bills which is the hallmark of law-making, even as Senator Adams Oshiomhole is not accessible by those on whose crest he rose to the Senate.
“He is using his performance as a Governor to sanctify himself as insurance for his idle and lame excuses in the Senate. He has not been able to fill the vacuum that the absence of former Senator Francis Alimikhena created in Edo North Senatorial representation.
The poor are hungry no one to cry to, and students who were on the Scholarship of the former Senator have all withdrawn from school due to inability to access the incumbent Senator for further educational support.
Oshiomhole has deepened the inequality in Edo North through his elite politics, without giving attention to the downtrodden that were the primary focus of the former Senator Francis Alimikhena”.
Benjamin Atu who was also an SSA to Governor Godwin Obaseki on media and the former spokesman to Comrade Philip Shaibu former Deputy Governor of Edo State in a statement issued today in Lagos said the recall of Adams Oshiomhole ahead of the Edo Governorship election is not witch-hunting or politically motivated but to stop him from continuously misleading the public to support him with his propaganda when he is not earning his keep in the Senate. Edo North is currently on Auto-Pilot as the incumbent Senator is elusive.
According to him, three months after former Senator Alimikhena was elected as a Senator, he mobilized the Federal Road Maintenance Agency FERMA to the Auchi- Agenebode Road that was cut off due to gully erosion and spent personal resources within months of being in the Senate to mobilize community workers to support FERMA as the road was a death trap and that was how the only road leading to Agenebode was restored.
Unfortunately Similar incident occurred in Ayogwiri same Agenebode road in Oshiomhole’s home town four months after Oshiomhole also became Senator but Oshiomhole turned his back on us, he disowned the road and the people and started driving through private homes to navigate his way with other motorists.
During his era as the Governor of the State, he failed to approve the same road with the excuse that it was a federal and not State road. Now that he is in the federal government, has the road become a state road? “If not for the intervention of Governor Obaseki who has restored the road recently, the entire Etsako East local government could have been cut off.
Atu maintained that Senator Adams Oshiomhole uses the media to manipulate public opinion by accusing Senator Francis Alimikhena of spreading poverty in Edo North because the former Senator was sharing Keke-nappes, Motorcycles, Generators, grinding machines, and Hair Dryers to those who graduated from his skill acquisition center. Oshiomhole further accused Senator Alimikhena of establishing a skill acquisition center rather than creating employment for all Edo North youths in federal agencies. This propaganda made the people vote for Oshiomhole rather than Senator Alimikhena who would have emerged today as the incumbent Senate President as the most ranking Senator from the South-South.
Ironically, One year after his election as a Senator, Oshiomhole is yet to make his first appearance to address us in his constituency as he has turned his private residence which the masses can’t access into a constituency office.
He frowned against the verbal condemnation of the former Senator by Adams Oshiomhole, saying as a Governor, Oshiomhole was sharing grinding machine to people as empowerment yet was accusing a Senator of empowering people with keke-napep. The people of Edo North are anxiously waiting to see the brand of assaulted cars he intends to distribute as his empowerment when he woke up from his Senatorial slumber.
Atu further described the election of Oshiomhole as a wasteful effort since he has failed to live up to public expectations. Nothing to his credit one year after, not even a bag of rice for the poor to share. Edo North youths are recklessly dismissed from their place of work but no Senator on ground to echo the voice of the voiceless. We also desire to know how many of Edo North youths Senator Adams Oshiomhole has offered employment in any federal agency and educational scholarship as I am ready to make public the list of those Senator Francis Alimikhena offered employment in federal agencies and scholarship within his first year in office as Deputy Chief Whip.
“Oshiomhole is a man who clones his achievements in the media. Like former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who was a dull student but intelligent President, Oshiomhole is a sleeping Senator but a vibrant Labour President hence there is a widening gap between his oratory promises and his performance. While we perfect his recalled, we Edo North people will not forget that Oshiomhole once said that “Senators must be earning their keep or be shown the way out of the chamber and now that he has failed to earn his keep in the Senate we have to recall him home to enable those who can earn their keep to go to the Senate.”
He said the masses are all aware of how the former Senator was worshipping Oshiomhole as a mini-god yet he had a hand in his removal forgetting the warning of Prof. Chinua Achebe who said, “When a child calls you father, have no hand in his death”.
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