•Party leadership worried over Okpebholo’s ‘absconditus’ public perception

A top chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Uhunmwode Local Government Area, Daniel A Noah Osa-Ogbegie, on Thursday dumped the party for presenting what he described as “dour governorship ticket”. He said the fact that the party actually fielded the duo of Senator Monday Okpebholo and Rep Dennis Idahosa “was clear to me that Edo APC was not serious about the election and was not serious about presenting viable governance to Edo people or both.”

In a resignation letter he addressed to the Ward Chairman of Uhunmwode Ward 2 Uhi, Osa-Ogbegie said as an Edo centered person who believes strongly in an Edo renaissance driven by Edo people under a sound and correct leadership, the candidate of the for the coming election does not fill him with “confidence as that leader that can lead the Edo renaissance I have always wanted.”

He added that as an honourable man, he would rather resign his membership than work against the party “as I cannot in good conscience campaign for the ticket of Senator Monday Okpebholo and Representative Dennis Idahosa. My conscience could not allow me and our ancestors would not have forgiven me.”

In a related development, the leadership of the APC in the state is battling what an insider described as “a very challenging problem that has defiled any solution.” The source identified the problem the “absconditus perception of the APC candidate by the public in Edo State.” He averred that the issue is giving leaders and stakeholders of the party a serious nightmare.

The source, which pleaded anonymity, confided in our reporter that the leaders of the party are at their wits end, saying: “They don’t know what to do next with Okpebholo’s hide-and-seek game as we speak. They are tired of his reluctance to engage with the people. Everybody is tired of his preference to hide and avoid the public and attend to important engagements. How can a governorship candidate be hiding from the people he wants to govern? Almost all the leaders are tired. They don’t know what to do again. Can’t you see other candidates? They are all out in the street, meeting groups, community leaders, and market women and appearing on online engagements. But here, all efforts to make him at least come out, engage and interact with the people have all failed. That is the problem on the ground now.”

The source Identified several high profile public engagements that Okpebholo has stylishly evaded giving the flimsiest of excuses in recent times. He was particularly angry over the highly publicized Benson Idohasa University’s ‘Thinkers Nest’ that scheduled meetings for all the three leading candidates on separate dates to enable them tell the President, Rt Rev Dr FEB Idahosa, students and staff of the institution, and by extension Edo citizens and the general public their take on “The Future of Edo State.”

While the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Asue Ighodalo, honoured the invitation on April 16 and walked tall from the event for a sterling performance , the Labour Party candidate, Olumide Akpata had his chance on April 18, but Senator Okpebholo failed to show up on Monday, April 22.

His failure to make an appearance on the scheduled date instantly set the internet abuzz as “Monday failed on Monday” trended hilariously on social media. The source also expressed concern about the many gaffes that usually characterize his few public engagements, saying, “honestly we are in a dilemma in APC. People are even asking if there is nothing the party can do now to remedy the situation and it is like nothing. Even the online interviews with bloggers and other influencers, he is running away from them. How will the people hear him? This is a proper bad market,” the source fumed.

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