An All Progressive Congress (APC) gubernatorial aspirant in Edo State, Prince Kassim Afegbua has said the state is bleeding profusely in the hands of economic predators.
He lamented that the state is getting poorer while the pockets of the predators are getting richer by the day.
The aspirant stated this when he met APC leaders and party faithful in Afuze, Owan East local government area of Edo State.
Afegbua was accompanied by hundreds of youths and party leaders to deliver his message of “LET’S UNITE EDO” to the people, a statement from his media office said.
According to Afegbua, “Edo State has been brutally wounded and urgently needs a surgical operation to rescue it from economic stagnation and social malaise.
“Our dear state is bleeding profusely in the hands of economic predators who have dealt a devastating blow to our collective patrimony. The state is getting poorer while their pockets are getting richer by the day.
“Rather than sit down to govern, they are busy telling tales by the moonlight. Tales of woes and neglect” he said.
Afegbua gave a verdict of failure in all ramifications to the current Edo State government and wondered why the state could suffer such fate despite growing resources and allocation from the Federal Government.
He queried “How can we allow our beloved Edo state to suffer such deprivations in the hands of pretenders and strangers who do not mean well for our state?
“Never again shall we allow interlopers to rape us hollow and deliver failure on our doorsteps.
“Never again shall our resources and collective patrimony be looted so whimsically without delivering good governance.
“When we wake up in the morning, what we see is despair, anger and poverty. What we see is a state that has been abandoned and neglected for the past seven years without corresponding development with what we get as revenue. They have been running a government of secrecy and our people have suffered untold hardship in the face of surplus”.
The APC members in Owan East were excited by Afegbua’s understanding of the issues as he proffered solutions that could open up the public space for good governance and accountable leadership.
He stressed: “Edo state government has no reason to lament. We’ve got resources that are being wrongly applied. We will widen the space to attract local and foreign investments and increase our internally generated revenue.
“We will build Trailer Parks, industrial hubs and dry port that would encourage economic activities to expand the frontiers of our internal revenue. We will run open government, allow citizens participation in our governance process through critical analysis and interrogation of our policies and implementation.
“For seven years, they talked about Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs), but we are yet to see any remarkable improvement in the quality of lives of our people”.
While appealing to the members to vote for him to secure the party’s ticket, he counselled them against moneybags who are desperate to rip-off the state.
He added: “open your eyes very well, when they come with money to buy your souls. Resist the temptation and remain focused. There will be light at the end of the tunnel”.
The APC members praised Afegbua’s courage and capacity, adding that a man like him is desirously needed to right the wrongs across the state.
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