GOVERNOR of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, has urged the people to pray for a God-fearing successor who would succeed him in November this year.
Oshiomhole, who is rounding off his second term, said no human being can successfully choose the right successor in a statement signed by his Executive Director of Media and Public Affairs, Mr. John Mayaki said.
Mayaki quoted Oshiomhole as expressing his gratitude to the people and soliciting their support, saying: “I am very grateful for your support and I hope that God will help us as we search for a successor because, except God helps us in our search and picks one for us, we will search in vain. I am concerned that Edo progress must be sustained. That is how nations are built.”
Oshiomhole said the emergence of a credible successor was crucial to sustain the efforts of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration of the last eight years.
He said: “If another governor comes and do the same or even half of what we have done in these over seven years, imagine the number of new roads that would be added. Sustain that over the next 16 to 24 years, you will find out that virtually all the streets would be done and you will have more beautiful buildings and businesses.”
He expressed satisfaction at the pace of new businesses springing up in the state, saying the era of business monopoly and absence of competition has gone.
“If you play back 2006 and 2007, Associated was the only airline flying this city and the only major hotel after Plaza was the Royal Marble. But right now, I don’t know how many hotels are in Benin, from Protea to several others and every day, new hotels are springing up in response to the demand for accommodation, which means more people are travelling into Benin City and travelling out of Benin City. Those are the ways you can measure how active the economy is behaving.”