A former Chairman of Esan North-East Local Government Council and Governorship aspirant of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. John Yakubu, has promised to prioritised the issue of security and power if given the mandate to govern Edo
The businessman cum politician, who gave the assurance during an interactive session with journalists in Benin, poured encomiums on the Nigerian Tribune Newspapers for its objective reportage.
Hon Yakubu disclosed that his track record as council boss earned him the Nigerian Tribune’s Award of Excellence in 2009, the only award he accepted despite numerous other offers, which he opined was due to the professionalism and objectivity of the Tribune Newspapers.
He vowed to reenact his excellent performance, which earned him the nickname “double gutter” during his local government administration as a governor of the state.
The 2016 PDP Deputy Governorship candidate said during his time as Council Chairman, he was able to speak truth to power and performed creditably well because he was focused and determined to leave a footprint behind.
“I want to supersede the achievements of the former governor of Bendel State, Prof. Ambrose Alli, because I did that when I was chairman of a local government council.
“Thirteen years after, if you go to my council today, you will be surprised at what the people will tell you. I had an opportunity to be the chairman for just two years and ten months (between 2007 and 2010). The visible projects are still there.
“We have 774 local government areas across the country, and I am the only one that built a Police Barrack. During my tenure, I asphalted eight roads; the longest was 1.5km, with drains on both sides.
“I built about four boreholes to address the lack of water in Uromi. I built the only state council staff quarter you have in Esan North-East in less than three years. These are verifiable projects.
“A lot of people ask me why I am so passionate about Edo. I tell them my heart beats for the state because we must rejig the state so that productivity will be reenacted. We must make sure our people go back to work, and it cannot happen the way things are going currently”, he said.
On agriculture and water supply, the governorship hopeful said farmers in the state will be educated on the modern system of farming to enhance farm productivity as water would be made available to the people.
Yakubu also promised to generate power for the people through the gas resources available in Edo in order to make power supply a reality in the state, this is just as he would solve the heavy traffic at the Ikpoba Hill axis of the state with the right engineering approach.
