Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
A faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State has inaugurated a 41-man member mobilization committee to swell the membership of the party ahead of the 2020 governorship election in the state.
The chairman of the faction, Mr Anselm Ojezua inaugurated the committee in Benin-City, the Edo capital yesterday, appointing Hon. Matthew Iduoriyekemwen as the chairman and Abdulkadir Giwa as the secretary.
After the inauguration, Ojezua reeled out the mandate of the committee, which according to him, had the mandate to pull in high-value politicians in an organised, systemic fashion across the state.
In Edo South, the factional leader said the committee “has 15 members; Edo Central has 11 while Edo North has 13 members.”
Ojezua said 2020 is an important year for the party and the strength of its membership “will form the basis of winning the forthcoming elections, hence the need for the committee to focus on membership drive.
“The terms of reference include, to embark on serious membership drive; to identify and interface with notable persons of substance across the state who have shown genuine interest to join the party; to develop a program of action to receive them at all levels of engagement from the ward and state level; to do all that is necessary to achieve the objectives for which the committee was set up.
He said the party “will not encourage people joining the party as groups because it promotes factionalisation in politics. We would not encourage people joining us in groups as grouping promotes factionalisation.
“We cannot encourage groups to come into our party but rather encourage individuals with high political network, who will help add value to the party. I call on members to join hands with the committee to do a good job.”
Also at the inauguration, the Publicity Secretary, Pastor Joseph Osagiede noted that membership of the committee cuts across the three senatorial districts of the state.
He said the party belongs to all Edo people, noting that they are determined to increase the membership base of the party.
The committee chair, Iduoriyekemwen, who said there was no challenge in the task ahead, noted that the performance of the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration would make the job easy for the committee.
“The spate of development across Edo State will make our job easy and I assure the party that the committee will do a great job. The Obaseki-led administration is working and mobilisation to ensure more people join the party is a job that needs to be done. Our target is to get as many people as possible to help the government develop the state.”
