Is Adams Oshiomhole contesting for senate in 2023?

By Jethro Ibileke

Questions have been flying around concerning the possibility that Adams Oshiomhole will contest for a senatorial seat in 2023.

The questions and rumors started after many support groups emerged and called for Oshiomhole to contest for senate.

Many commentators have also said the support groups were part of the tactics deployed by Oshiomhole.

However, the rumors have unsettled the incumbent and only Edo APC Senator in the national assembly, Francis Alimikhena, and his supporters.

But, the Edo State chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), David Imuse has said if Oshiomhole is interested in contesting for the Edo North senatorial position, he will disclose it to the party leaders in the State.

Imuse stated this while addressing former members of the party who defected to the APC at the weekend in Ekpoma.

According to him, “For Edo people who know Comrade Oshiomhole very well, they know that he is not a man who hides his intentions or feelings. In his characteristic ebullient self, he will say what needs to be said when he decides and pick the time to do so.

“I have not heard from the Comrade on this issue and so I think it is all a rumor. All those groups claiming to be representing him are not the spokesperson[s] of Comrade Oshiomhole. The statements from the groups are not from the party at any level. If Oshiomhole is interested, he will let us know.”

Speaking on those who returned to the party, Imuse described them as persons who erroneously left the house they built, but have returned home.

He noted that “the broom which naturally sweeps away dirt is what Edo people are looking up to now, to sweep away bad governance.”

He added: “It is clear that the PDP is in disarray, it is a self-inflicted injury. We told the whole world that Obaseki and his co-travelers are pollutants and irritants. And wherever they go, they represent failure, destruction, and ingratitude.

“Edo APC is very well organized. We are fully settled, our structures are in place from the state, wards, and to the units. We are prepared and ready to take back the governance of the state.”

Commenting on plans for next year’s general election, the Edo APC chairman expressed confidence that his party will emerge victoriously.

“Our people came out supporting the APC and we won all the seats, but unfortunately, they have been denied representation.

“In the 2023 general election, Edo people will tell Obaseki and those he is supporting that they are not needed. The handwriting is clear, come 2023, APC will emerge victoriously.

“Edo People are tired and want a change by all means. All that you see on the ground in the state presently were done by the Oshiomhole administration. Obaseki’s MoU government has nothing to show, the government is gasping for breath as it has lost steam,” Imuse said.

He, therefore, called on “all right-thinking persons in Edo State who went to the PDP to return back home to the APC as the PDP is a party of treachery”.