The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has maintained that the campaign manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate in Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu is plagiarised and therefore fake.
In a Thursday statement, PDP National Campaign Council for the election said that the campaign document dubbed “SIMPLE Agenda” was not marketable because it has shown to be “a vacuous promissory note of inoperable claims that are bereft of personal commitment and governance bearing.”
According to the statement signed by spokesman of the PDP campaign council, Kola Ologbondiyan, “The emptiness of Ize-Iyamu’s agenda again exposes the nervousness of a jittery individual who is desperate to use the Edo state governorship position to gain constitutional immunity and evade prosecution for alleged corruption.
“The APC has destroyed its own campaign as the people of Edo state cannot abandon a performing government under the PDP candidate, Governor Godwin Obaseki, with his highly acceptable, practical and development-driven MEGA manifesto, and go for the discredited APC with its candidate that has no plans to develop the state.
“The Edo voters have distanced themselves from the APC because the Ize-Iyamu’s deceptive agenda has proven to be nothing more than empty headlines without content or any commitment from the makers.”
PDP further said that Edo people could not see their common interest and aspiration in the document, adding that it has failed to unveil any plan on any issue that points to their welfare and development as a people.
The party also claimed that the APC has run an “empty” campaign because it relied on an empty campaign document that is lacking in content and bereft of any bearing to development of Edo state.
“It also explains why the APC candidate, Ize-Iyamu, always stammers whenever he is confronted with questions on the document.
“This further explains why the APC cannot engage on issue-based campaign but only to resort to violence and using discredited politicians such as sacked former national chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, to overheat the polity.
“This campaign direction of the APC has also validated the position of the people of Edo state that the APC has no mission in the state other than to attempt to use its candidate, Ize-Iyamu to gain access, pillage the resources and suppress the people.
“However, such plots have fallen flat in the face of overwhelming support of vast majority of Edo people for our candidate, Governor Obaseki, whose MEGA manifesto remains a practical testimony of achievements, promises kept and roadmap for further massive development of the state.
“The Edo people identifies with the MEGA manifesto as the sure roadmap in their collective quest to further release the potentials of the state, raise the opportunities, innovativeness, knowledge and overall productivity of the state and its citizens under Governor Obaseki.
“The PDP campaign commends the Edo people for rallying with Governor Obaseki in his winning campaign despite the cacophony, lies and violence of the APC, whose antics will never detract from the determination of the people to vote for the PDP and reelect their choice leader, Governor Godwin Obaseki, come September 19,” the statement further read.