OVER 1000 Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) youths in Edo State, under the aegis of Edo South ACN Coalition newsmen, yesterday, staged a protest at the palace of the Oba of Benin, expressing their rejection of Dr Pius Odubu as the running mate to Governor Adams Oshiomhole in the forthcoming 2012 governorship election in the state.
The youths who also protested at the Palace of the Itsekhure (Chief Priest) of Benin Kingdom, Chief Nosakhare Itsekhure, alleged that Odubu, who is incumbent Deputy Governor of the state, had not provided any meaningful assistance to Governor Adams Oshiomhole in the past three years and therefore it would be wrong to have him as running mate to Oshiomhole in the next four years.
It would be recalled that the entire leadership of the party in the state had endorsed Oshiomhole for a second term but failed to endorse Odubu as his running mate.
However, Barr. Sunday Ogbomo, who led the protest at the palace, asserted that “the people of Edo South senatorial district have rejected Odubu as running mate to our action Governor. Throughout his eight years as member of the Federal House of Representatives, he never employed anybody even though he had the slot to employ four persons.”
“He never executed any constituency project. And when the leaders of the ACN picked him as running mate to Oshiomhole in 2007, we allowed that because we thought may be he will change. What he did was a borehole in his own father’s house in the village and nothing else. We recalled that our father the Oba of Benin sent some chiefs to plead with him to allow Etiosa Ogbewe go back to the House of Assembly for a second term but Odubu did not let him go.Even though he won the primaries.
“The head of Odubu’s community is the Okaevbo, the Okaevbo even pleaded on behalf of Etiosa but Odubu refused. Even the road project in Orhionmwon the project has been abandoned yet we have him as Deputy Governor. Apart from that, it is an open secret that each time the Comrade Governor travels, he cannot not even act on behalf of the governor. So we need a Deputy Governor that is vibrant and one that can help the Comrade Governor move the state forward” he stated.
