By DADA AYOKHAI
A major highlight of the recent All Progressives Congress, APC, Senatorial rally in Auchi, Edo North District, was the outpouring of encomiums for the party’s sole female chairmanship candidate in the state, Dame Vera Sado, during the official flag-off of the campaign for the scheduled local government elections.
Dame Sado affirmed her distinct presence by arriving at the rally venue in grand, colourful style, leading a large train of supporters.
Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, expressed delight at the display and commended APC stakeholders in Etsako Central for being gender-sensitive.
He poured encomiums on Dame Sado, describing her as “a person of capacity,” and urged women to rally around one of their own.
Dame Sado, from the Anegbette axis of Etsako Central LGA, previously served as a councilor — again as the only female among her colleagues.
She says she is running not as a “female candidate,” but as a contestant with the capacity to win.
Etsako Central LGA holds a unique place in Edo North. Created through the efforts of the late General Mike Akhigbe, who at a time served as Nigeria’s number two, the council has produced a string of national firsts.
Topping the list is Akhigbe, who rose to Rear Admiral and Chief of General Staff.
He is joined by the late Senator Albert Legogie, a former Deputy Senate President, and Chief Mike Oghiadomhe, former Chief of Staff to the President.
Similarly, the local government produced Chief M.C.K. Orbih, a former Chairman of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH.
His tenure led to the establishment of an annex of the hospital in the local government.
The late icon also gave birth to a political juggernaut in his son, Chief Dan Orbih, the longest-serving active party chairman in the state.
He is currently the South-South Zonal Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Chairman of the Governing Council of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma.
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