By Folorunsho Alagbede
Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo state has assured the chairman, National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Illiya Damagum, of his support to reposition the party.
Mr Makinde gave his assurances in Ibadan on Wednesday during the groundbreaking of the upgrading of Ladoke Akintola Airport, Ibadan, to an international standard.
The Governor maintained that he would support whatever decision the Damagum-led NWC would take to reposition the party.
“Even if we have issues among ourselves, I don’t think this is the right time to fight.
“We have an important election on Saturday in Edo State and we should just rally around and deliver our candidate, Dr Asue Ighodalo,” he said.
On why he didn’t attend the party’s campaign grand finale in Benin, Mr Makinde said he had already scheduled meetings in Finland and Sweden before the campaign’s date was announced.
The Governor declared that he was 100 per cent with the Edo PDP governorship candidate, Mr Ighodalo and urged the people of Edo to vote for him as their new governor.INEC National Commissioner Sam Olumekun announced this in Benin, noting that the extension would begin on September 13.
Mr Olumekun said that stakeholders unanimously appealed to the commission to consider extending the PVC collection period to enable more voters to collect their cards.
“The commission held an interactive meeting with stakeholders in Benin ahead of the governorship election. The meeting was well attended by chairmen of political parties, candidates, traditional and religious leaders, security agencies, civil society organisations and the media.
“The chairman of the commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, and Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun addressed the stakeholders and responded to their electoral and security concerns. In view of that, a three-day extension has been granted from Friday, September 13, to Sunday, September 15.
“The cards will be available for collection in our 18 local government offices across the state from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily,” he said.
He urged all registered voters who had yet to collect their PVCs to seize the opportunity of the extension to do so.
He said there would be no collection by proxy, which is in line with the commission’s policy.
