Edo 2024: APC, Get It Right with Dr. Ernest Umakhihe

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By Reporter

The leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has been advised to take the right step in the forthcoming September Governorship election in Edo State by nominating a gubernatorial candidate that will be acceptable to the generality of Edo people.

The advice is contained in a statement issued by a group of seasoned Edo professionals and signed on its behalf by Barr. Dickson Abumere and Dr. Olu Oronsaye.

The group asserted that for APC to return to Government House on Dennis Osadebe Avenue, the party would need to field a candidate who can clearly and comfortably defeat the candidate of the ruling party in the State in the election.

The professionals identified the right candidate to be Dr. Ernest Afolabi Umakhihe, who they described as the best governance expert and the most suitable for the exalted position of governor among the 29 governorship aspirants in APC.

The group described Dr. Umakhihe, who spent 35 years in the Federal Public Service and retired as Permanent Secretary, as a man with huge capacity and competence for the office, adding that he distinguished himself throughout his public service career.

The seasoned Edo professionals opined that Dr. Umakhihe, an Accounting graduate of the University of Benin with a Master’s in Business Administration and a Ph.D. in Security and Strategic Studies, has plans of transforming Edo State in every segment.

The group reminded APC that a number of the aspirants were in the race to be settled with appointments as they had nothing to offer the people of Edo State in this digital age.

They added that Dr. Umakhihe comes from Owan, an area with large followership of APC, but that had been politically marginalized in recent democratic governance, stressing that giving the ticket to Dr. Umakhihe, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAN), would be a mark of appreciation of their support for the party.

The professionals stressed that Dr. Umakhihe is the most detribalized of all the aspirants which they attributed to the relationships he had built over the years with all sections of Edo State – his wife being from Esan, while he had his secondary and tertiary education in Benin where he also started his career and worked for over 20 years.

They appealed to the APC to consider the overall interest of Edo State in picking their candidate.