By Chesa Chesa
All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in the forthcoming September gubernatorial election in Edo State, Dr. Ernest Umakhihe, says he is God’s anointed for the position, and not that of any politician.
Umakhihe said this Tuesday during a press in Abuja after he submitted his expression of interest and nomination forms at the APC headquarters.
“I am the anointed candidate of God”, he said in response to a reporter’s question on whether he was the anointed choice of the current APC leader in Edo State and former State Governor, Senator Adams Oshiomhole.
Many aspirants are jostling and hoping to get Oshiomhole’s endorsement as that is expected to boost their chances of getting elected as next Governor of Edo State, currently governed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Speaking further, Umakhihe, explained that his ambition was borne out of the desire of his people to experience real governance, saying that his pedigree and sterling performance as a former federal Permanent Secretary in the civil service would be handy in his service to Edo people if elected.
He promised to rescue Edo deploying agricultural revolution, security strategies, among others.
He said: “I have touched the life of the ordinary person, I have had philanthropic organizations that are still existing and have touched the vulnerable groups and the less privileged, and have come to the rescue of Edolites.
“Having retired from the federal civil service, I said now is the time for me to have a better opportunity that will concentrate solely on Edo state and my slogan has always been if I could do this without making any electoral promise, now I want to make electoral promises which I must fulfill.
“I have seen that people need to leverage on what Edo state has, the abundant resources, so that we can mobilise these resources, harness potentials and move those things forward. As we speak, Edo state has 1.6 million hectares of arable land,” which he promised to put to productive use.
On his experience, he recalled: “I am one who has served at the top echelon of the federal civil service, I have served as a director in several ministries, from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to National Sports Commission, now Federal Ministry of Sport, to Ministry of Defense, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“In Foreign Affairs in particular, I have had extensive diplomatic interactions because my oversight then covered over 116 diplomatic missions as at the time I was serving there.
“When I was appointed Permanent Secretary in 2018 by President Muhammadu Buhari our then President, I have also served in several ministries.
“I started my Permanent Secretary career with the first posting to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning and that was where I had experience in real economic policies of the federal government.
“And in fact, the nine priorities of that administration, that is, Muhammad Buhari second tenure was domiciled that ministry.
“Also I was the secretary to the National Economic Council, the Council you’re aware that the Vice President is the Chairman, where you have governors as members and after my sojourn in that ministry, I moved to the Office of Head of Service of the Federation, where I was in charge of common services office, in fact in charge of central administration in that office.”
