By Ikhili Ebalu, Benin City
Engr Saliu Ahmed, a stalwart of the APC in Etsako West, is hopeful of victory for Comrade Adams Oshiomole in the Edo North senatorial election on February 25, insisting the former comrade governor will garner sufficient votes from the Auchi people to dust his opponents based on the good things he did for the ancient town while in power.
Engr Ahmed who is the Sodiq of the Auchi kingdom and the Managing Director of Benin- Owena River Basin Development Authority, BORDA, made the submission in Benin during a chat with journalists.
According to Engr Ahmed, the Auchi people are well known for not abandoning their benefactors, rather than doing so, they will meet such persons halfway in their hours of need.
” In a nutshell, the administration of the former comrade governor really favoured Auchi as it was during his eight-year tenure that some attention was paid to the deplorable state of the roads in the ancient town as well as the Auchi erosion menace.
“Hitherto, successive regimes had paid lip service to these twin problems until the Oshiomole administration took them headlong and decimated them, to the admiration of the people who had borne the brunt of the menace for years”
Checks reveal that on the two occasions Comrade Oshiomole contested for the highest political office in the state, he got the highest number of votes, both in his first coming and reelection bid, from Auchi to make the difference.
Engr Ahmed further said the Auchi people are not ingrates and they will not abandon someone who has sacrificed a lot for the good of the community and begin to chase shadows, adding the former comrade governor will never be forgotten in a hurry for the infrastructural facelift he bestowed on the ancient town.
Engr Ahmed is one of those held in high esteem in Auchi and Edo North as a whole. His inspiring stewardship as the managing director of the BORDA endeared him to the public, especially as regards the numerous life-impacting projects embarked upon by the Authority in various communities.