By Ayodele Oni
A former Commissioner for Information and Communication, Edo State, under Governor Godwin Obaseki, Adaze Emwanta, now a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has alleged that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship Candidate, Asue Ighodalo, is not a registered voter in Edo State.
He, also, claimed that most of the campaign promises made by the Governor in 2020 to Edo people had become paper tigers in Government archives.
Emwanta who spoke with newsmen in Abuja, noted that the PDP candidate’s matter raises a moral question.
“He is not even arguing that the voter’s card was not forged. It is only a matter of time for the truth to come out.
“The case even raises a very big moral question. The moral question it raises is that you want people to vote for you in an election that you are not eligible to vote in.
“For me, that is a dramatic irony, because in law we say you cannot give what you don’t have. If you cannot vote in an election, why are you asking Edo electorate to vote for you?
“Only duly registered voters whose names appear in electoral units in Edo and not Lagos are eligible to vote in the forthcoming Edo governorship election.
“For the purpose of emphasis and clarity, l make bold to say again that Mr. Asue Ighodalo is not a registered voter in Edo State.
“And I am challenging him now to produce evidence of his valid voters card that makes him an eligible voter in Edo State. Perhaps he is planning to use the proposed continuous voters registration exercise to correct the anomaly of his allegedly forged voter’s card.
“Time will tell. Any Nigerian can transfer his or her voter’s registration history from one geographical location to another, whether inter-state or intra-state.
“For Asue Ighodalo, as l earlier noted, from certified INEC records, it is only in Lagos that he is eligible to vote. Since this matter came up, the PDP candidate and his media hirelings have not said anything about it.
“I dare anyone to say Edo people should vote for him as a governorship candidate, he must provide evidence that he is a registered voter in Edo State.
“It is even more curious, because people are saying that the scheduled INEC Continuous Voters Registration exercise was prompted by some powerful individuals, who intend to manipulate the voters registers in some units across the state.
“Ideally, the exercise is not appropriately an opportunity for those who have discrepancies of a criminal nature in their voting history to avail themselves of, but mainly for the first time voters who were not yet 18 when the last registration exercise took place.
“But I think the governorship candidate of the PDP, Asue Ighodalo should come out clean on this issue. If he is afraid to do so himself, his media men like the Rev should address a press conference to clear the air.
“It is without any atom of doubt that this forgery issue will be a major talking point during the campaigns. This is why Edo needs a proper home boy as their next governor.
“A home boy does not need a continuous voters registration exercise to prove his voting history in his local government of origin. Sadly the people who in 2020 sponsored the Edo nor be Lagos campaign mantra, are registered voters in Lagos.
“What a shame! My party the APC has a candidate whose voting history is as old as the democracy we enjoy in this present Republic. Instead of pursuing shadows, we are receiving more and more decampees from the PDP.
“A Former local government chairman and ALGON president Felix Abumere and immediate past Deputy Chief of Staff Government House Hon. Kingsley Ehigiamusor just joined us.
“We are receiving two former Rt. Hon Speakers of Edo State House of Assembly during the period of the official flag off of our campaign. APC remains the party to beat in the forthcoming September Edo governorship election.”
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