By Simon Ebegbulem

BENIN CITY—GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, has hosted his colleague governor from Ebonyi State, Governor David Umahi, who was the Chairman of the electoral committee for the governorship primaries of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Edo State, that saw to the emergence of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu as the party’s candidate for the September 10, governorship election.

Gov. Dave Umahi

Oshiomhole who spoke when his Ebonyi State counterpart paid him a courtesy visit at his office, said: “What is at stake is not war, it is contestation, it is democracy.” Umahi visited the governor shortly after conducting the PDP primaries at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City.

Oshiomhole, said: “I appreciate you, party or no party. I always said that for people of our level and of our exposure, we should all recognise that there is only one supra-party to which we all belong and that is Nigeria as a nation and we are all committed to serving it and contributing to its strength, unity, progress and prosperity.

“I believe we made a conscious choice as a people to settle for a multi-party democracy. We could have opted for a unitary party system where everybody must belong to one party, but we opted for multi-party democracy. And it can only happen if people, very decent people, responsible people, people who mean well find different political platforms to canvass for support, to bid for power and to use power creatively to impact on the lives of our people.”

Oshiomhole said the visit would go a long way to demonstrate that what was at stake was not war but contestation in democracy.