As the race for the Edo Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP governorship candidate draws close only one man seems to have the track records to unseat the lion occupying Denis Osadebey Government House.

The man is Senator Oserheimen Osunbor the erstwhile Governor of the Heart Beat of the Nation who within 18 months proved that governance could have a human face at the same time make people smile.

* Senator Osunbor

If Edo PDP knows what it takes shopping for a good and marketable product it needs not to go too far to get one because right under its nose an Osunbor is on the shelf.

Yes an Osunbor who came to Government House in 2007 with the singular aim of taking Edo State to its former glory when the state was first among equals but the vagaries of life truncated his laudable mission on November 11, 2008 via a questionable judgement by an Appeal Court sitting in Benin.

Yes, questionable because of the present stench from the judiciary that has led to the suspension of the former helmsman of the Court. A Professor of Law and a first class graduate of University of Nigeria Nnsukka who was also a Rhode scholar in the mould of former President Bill Clinton of the United States of America, USA.

He was not given the chance to prove his mettle but within the 18 months he remained in Government House, he made an indelible mark that is difficult to erase from the minds of the good people of Edo.

Osunbor knew then that a hungry man is an angry man; he quickly revamped the four farm settlements that the then action Governor Dr, Samuel Ogbemudia created in the 70s that were abandoned by other governments and tractors with other farming equipment deplored into action.

He met a state yearning for good roads and within 6 months he worked on 24 roads across the three senatorial districts spending less than N10billion a figure that could be described as outrageously conservative compared to the amount this present government had spent on only airport road in two years. The 7 kilometer road primarily designed to give non_indigenes the wrong impression that the whole of Edo is wearing such a look while the interiors reflect complete rurality particularly the Government Reservation Area, GRA that presently looks like a an abandoned construction site.

He gave bursary that has been long removed from the lexicon of the state and graduating students smiled to school. The present Government had told the world when it was inaugurated in 2008 that education from primary to tertiary would be free and the creation of 10,000 jobs. It is on record today that within the 18 months of his truncated four year term Osunbor increased salaries twice and salaries were never owed even for one month as the state experienced industrial harmony for the period.

He paid accumulated pensions to the pensioners who had recorded deaths on queues waiting for their dues in previous governments and they were the first to be paid even before serving Civil Servants.

Operational vehicles were bought for all governmental agencies that hitherto operated with public transport immediately he mounted the saddle. Above all, Osunbor brought peace and for the 18 months he reigned, security was upper most in his mind as all the bandits relocated from the state because there was a man at Government House who believes the peoples’ lives and property must be secured first.

2007 Yuletide period in Benin city not even a gunshot was heard in the ancient city as Osunbor ensured that the security agencies were fully mobilized to the teeth but today the state is known as the capital of armed robbers and kidnappers.

His loyalty to PDP had remained unshakeable despite the venom poured on him while in government and outside government because of his strong belief in true fiscal conservatism. PDP is presently championing internal democracy and what else does it need to do to people in the mould of Osunbor that had remained in its fold than to give them what they deserve by giving them their He was an advocate of government money must be properly accounted for as the first thing he did barely one month in office was to establish a due process office to monitor government spending.

People never liked this development but it went a long way in making him run a clean slate without blemishes while in office.

Several attempts made by this government to rubbish him via orchestrated plans to drag his name to mud failed because the man lived above board while working for the upliftment of Edo State.

If it is true that Osunbor has the intention of running, then PDP need not to sweat over the candidate that emerges as its flag bearer because there is an Osunbor right inside the party’s ‘sokoto’.

A God fearing man and dedicated party man who had remained loyal in the face of untold confrontations that normally would have made any Nigerian to change base but the man remained steadfast and had worked for the party at both regional and state levels.

A man whose credentials is far taller than the resume of all other candidates that had openly declared their intentions to run under the [platform of PDP. This is an opportunity for all elders and youths of Edo who want the state to excel in spheres of all human endeavors to rally round an Osunbor who had patiently waited on the sideline to rightly take back what rightfully belongs to him.

If PDP wants to reclaim its lost Edo State or better still the heartbeat of the nation, Senator Osunbor is the man to rally around. Nigerians now look at the credentials of candidates they vote without necessarily considering the platform with which they launch themselves but in the case of Edo, PDP remains the party to be beaten not any other party because of its large followership in the heartbeat.

Edo people shine your eyes and vote wisely do not allow abracadabra blind your eyes and reasoning.

BY OSAZE AKHIGBEMUDU