Ondo election will follow Edo pattern ---- Nwanyanwu

It would be recalled that the stake in Edo election was very high, with rigorous campaign of one man one vote, and the conduct of the election was devoid of rancour at the end of which a victor emerged.

Nwanyanwu said in a telephone interview in Abuja that the Labour Party governorship candidate Olusegun Mimiko, who is also the incumbent governor, had touched the lives of the electorate in the last four years.

``This is the time for his works and activities to speak for him more so the opposition parties do not stand any chance in the forthcoming elections.''

He said there was no challenge from the opposition because the incumbent governor had worked in line with the party’s manifesto.

Nwanyanwu said Mimiko in the last four years had ensured job-led growth and transformed the economy to which the state had overcome under development, vicious backwardness and the paradox of poverty in a wealthy state.

The national chairman said a lot of job opportunities had been created through agricultural development and sustainable growth in the state to which many young school leavers and unemployed youths were gainfully employed.

Nwanyanwu said more than 500 projects that impacted positively on the lives of the people of Ondo State was executed, while both the health and education sector were not left out.

He said Mimiko was able to achieve the feat because his activities were devoid of godfatherism.

``He has no excuse not to perform creditably well because nobody is taking any percentage of the state’s allocation from him, and the party’s manifesto is the guiding principle for performance,’’.

Nwanyanwu said Edo election had sent a big signal to all politicians that free and fair election could be conducted across the country in a conducive atmosphere where peoples vote would count.

He, therefore, challenged INEC to stick to its earlier promise of creating a level playing field for all the political parties and to ensure free and fair election.

The national chairman advised INEC to work on all the minor areas of default, mostly logistics, that had always been identified as the major problem militating against the timely commencement of voting during elections.