Towards the September 21, 2024 Edo State governorship election, a civil society organisation (CSO), the Edo Salvation Group (ESG), has called on political party candidates for the Sept. 21 governorship election in Edo to appear for election debate.
In a statement in Abuja, the FCT, yesterday (Friday August, 30), the National Coordinator of ESG, Mr Imman Ekpe, called on candidates of the major political parties and the voters in the state to give the debate the attention it deserves.
According to him, the commonwealth of the state is an issue all the candidates and voters alike are expected to bring to the fore in the debate.
Insisting that the debate is a major test that should show the capabilities of the candidates, the ESG boss added that it would help the voters make up their minds as to whom to elect to drive the engine of the State in the next four years.
“We as a group commend the Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG) and the Edo Chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists for partnering to bring this debate ahead of the election.
“We believe that this debate in whatever way it is presented, offers a platform for the respective candidates to present the vision they have for the state.
“That is why we are enjoining the candidates and the voters to take the debate with all seriousness,” he said.
Ekpe called on the three major candidates, Sen. Monday Okpebhello of the APC, Mr Asue Ighodaloof of the PDP and Mr Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) to take the proposed debate seriously, urging them to take advantage of the debate to convince the voters about their agenda.
The national coordinator of the group also enjoined the voters to use the opportunity to scrutinise the candidates in terms of the fluidity of the delivery and the contents of their ideas.
“Any candidate who boycotts this debate should be boycotted by voters,” he said.
