TheCable

Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo, says he is not desperate to become governor.

Ize-Iyamu contested the governorship election in 2016 under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party  (PDP) but lost to Godwin Obaseki, incumbent governor, who was the APC candidate.

However, both politicians have switched platforms for the 2020 election.

Ize-Iyamu, who spoke to journalists on Thursday, said anyone who genuinely wants to serve the people does not need to be desperate for a position.

He assured his supporters of victory, adding that if he is rigged out of the election, he would seek redress at the court and not resort to violence.

“A man who genuinely wants to serve cannot be desperate. It is not compulsory that I should be the governor. If God wills, I will win. I assure you that if I lose the election, the worst that can happen is that I will go to court but I won’t resort to violence. We have warned our supporters against violence,” he said.

“Ours is a genuine roadmap to transform our state from its present unacceptable condition of underdevelopment to an attractive state with a vibrant economy.”

He complained about the destruction of his campaign posters and asked the security agencies to arrest the perpetrators.

He also urged the people to come out en masse and exercise their voting rights.

“What they are trying to do is to raise alarm so that voters will not come out to vote to enable them to write their result. We want to assure our people that there would be adequate security on election day. Let them come out to vote. We don’t need to resort to violence because we will win all the 18 local governments,” Ize-Iyamu said.

He also said he will not be distracted by the opposition party’s campaign.

He said: “Rather than talk about what they have done, they are saying ‘Oshiomhole abused you, now he is praising me’… Do you expect him to praise me when he was trying to sell a bad market? That was the only way to sell a bad market.

“He (Oshiomhole) wanted to distract me and he succeeded. This time around, I won’t be distracted, I will market my agenda.”