Olumide Akpata, the Labour Party (LP) candidate in the Edo State governorship election, has listed some of the areas he will urgently address to put smiles on the faces of the people of the state.
He pinpointed some of the areas he identified while having a media chat with journalists at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Benin, including agriculture, security, health, education, etc.
Akpata said his government would be centred around the welfare of the people, adding that the slogan of the party, which is “papa, mama and pikin”, will be followed to the letter.
He said his government would not ignore projects earlier undertaken by his predecessor if they were aimed at the welfare of the people because the money used in executing them belongs to them, the taxpayers.
The governorship candidate also said he is a proponent of the local government autonomy.
He said at the moment, the local government councils are strangulated financially due to the absence of local government autonomy, adding that while granting them their autonomy, the local government council chairmen and their councilors must remain in their domains.
He added that the roads in the state would be attended to, whether federal or state, provided it has a direct impact on people of the state.
He said he believes that when the federal roads that directly impact the people are fixed, the federal government can reimburse the state instead of allowing the people to suffer unnecessarily, just as he said he would not use taxpayers’ money for things that will not add value to their lives.