Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, says the taciturnity of Edo State Governor-Elect, Monday Okpebholo, worked for him during the September 21, 2024 governorship election in the South-South state.
Oshiomhole said television interviews are exaggerated and that the All Progressives Congress (APC) cannot compel its candidate (Okpebholo) to grant media chats.
“As you can see, our strategy worked which is why the people voted. Monday communicated with Edo electorate and they decided and it worked,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday.
He was responding to concerns about the non-media appearances of Okpebholo unlike the two other frontline candidates in the election – Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata.
When the host of the show, Seun Okinbaloye, asked Oshiomhole why the governor-elect didn’t grant media interviews or participate in debates before the election, the lawmaker said, “You are saying I was the face of the campaign, whatever that means, thank you. But what makes me the face? Maybe because I was speaking to the quality of Monday.
“I spoke about the quality of Monday and we got him to speak to the people about what he will do differently. He has to justify those who are voting for him. How will he be different from this rejected government? He has to speak to them and that is communication.
“But the mistake many TV hosts make is to assume that anyone who doesn’t appear before you, you exaggerate the import of television viewers.
“It’s not about not allowing him (to grant interviews); we are not in a position to compel anybody.”
Oshiomhole said the most potent means of communication is not television and that radio has more reach than television.
On Sunday night, a day after the election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared APC’s Okpebholo the winner of the keenly contested election.
INEC said the APC candidate secured 291,667 votes, Ighodalo with 247,274 votes while Akpata scored 22,763 votes.
Okpebholo, the Edo Central Senator, leveraged significant influence in his senatorial district, and joined forces with his colleague in the National Assembly from Edo North, Oshiomhole, to defeat Ighodalo, the anointed candidate of the outgoing governor, Godwin Obaseki.
Okpebholo’s victory could also be attributed to his alliance with Dennis Idahosa, his running mate who is a federal lawmaker; and Obaseki’s estranged deputy, Philip Shaibu.
The declaration on Sunday evening brings Okpebholo closer to achieving his goal of becoming governor of the state and places his party, the APC, on the cusp of a return to power at the Dennis Osadebey Government House.
The APC lost power in the state in 2020 after the incumbent defected from the party to the PDP in the heat of an intra-party squabble and fallout with his predecessor, Oshiomhole.
After he was denied the APC governorship ticket, Obaseki joined the PDP and clinched the ticket to defeat APC’s Osagie Ize-Iyamu to seal his second term, which will end on November 12, 2024.
Obaseki campaigned strongly for Ighodalo, while Oshiomhole was a focal figure for Okpebholo’s campaign, attending rallies and interviews on behalf of the APC candidate.
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