THE frenetic race to the aborted February 14 election, which has now been shifted to March 28, during which the choice of 109 senators will be made across the country had reached feverish pitch before the shift of date.

Here, in Edo South, a brief survey reveals a straight fight between the current member of the House of Representatives, representing Orhionmwon/Uhumwuode LGSs, Hon. Samson Rapheal Osagie and the immediate past State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, in Edo State, Pharm. Mathew Aisgbonriodion Urhoghide.

Going by the analogy that the Senate is an assemblage of wise and experienced men similar to the traditional Council of elders, a senator should be a high-minded and well-grounded fellow with a well measured sense of good judgment on issues of national importance.

Good education and versatility are necessary but to the ordinary man, what seem to count more are experience and a deep passion to lead the people’s developmental process. Pharm.

Urhoghide appear primed to be an exceptional Senator given his wide variegated experience, his sound educational background, his ability to connect and empathize with people and his socio-cultural integration with ordinary folks of Edo South.

If politics is not enmeshed in mucky waters and confusion, mendacity and bedlam, Edo people would have had no difficulty electing Mathew Urhoghide, being unarguably the best foot in the present race in all ramifications.

The voters have often been victims of dark conspiracies of deceit by their representatives. Yet, it must not be lost to the smoky confusion that the key leadership characteristics that drive representativeness are more liberally deposited in Pharm.

Urhoghide than his opponents: They include intelligence that draws on the inner strength of the individual, sound ethical behavior which enables the individual to insist on doing what is right at all times, communicative skills which prepares the individual to take on issues off-hand and ability to listen to the views and suggestions of constituents without ego, thereby sharing their sentiments and vulnerabilities.

Pharm. Mathew Urhoghide is a thorough bred professional. As a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Institute of Nigeria (FPIN), he will provide guidance to the Senate on matters related to health.

It should be noted that the legislature makes law on virtually all issues under the sun and requires expert membership and expert advice across board to tackle matters brought before it. To assist legislators, provision is made for each member to employ highly qualified legal and research aids.

Therefore, it is sheer myth and naked lie for anyone to claim that a lawyer is preferred to any other profession in the legislature. Claims to legislative experience as an advantage for any candidate is unpersuasive as anyone who applies himself to his assignment would acquire experience on the job in no time. It is a ploy by self-serving incumbents to sit-tight in the legislature for ever and thereby, shut the doors against more matured,  more empathic, well meaning and better motivated individuals who have the gung-ho to deliver effective representation.

It has failed to fly everywhere in Nigeria, not even in Esanland, our immediate neighbours, where their present representatives at the National Assembly lost nominations thereby, putting paid to their possible return to Abuja in May 29, 2015.

Let the personal account of the ordinary man in the constituency pass judgment on the performance of representatives in the National Assembly. If their voices are not drowned by acts of self approval and glorification, one would discover that tokenism is being celebrated by those who meteorically rose to national stage without real antecedents. Indeed, the triumphs of mediocre have created unedifying spectacles in a mosaic of political adventurism which preponderate these climes.

Only the gullible zombies are still in the dark about the capacity of our representatives to negotiate, demand and commandeer bogus allowances for themselves and collect returns from constituency projects into their pockets, only to dole out miserable pittance to their victims of deceit at critical intervals. All that must stop!

At the heart of the challenge posed by the up-coming election is the dire need to upgrade the quality of representation. The insistence of the people on high quality representation will in future reflect on the recruitment procedure at the grassroots level. The emergence of Urhoghide will be the needed game-changer.

He has the physical presence of a Senator. He has the intelligence that captivates, bolstered by innate ability to weather storms even in unfamiliar terrains. His gift at networking socially and politically was honed by years of experience.

From street corner gossips, wild and riotous debates in beer parlours, stray comments at the vendors stand and the pulse of the enlightened, it is apparent that Mathew Uroghide is the preferred candidate to represent the Edo ethnic nationality at the Senate come May 2015.

senator for Edo ethnic nationality, someone who will regularly and compulsorily update and consult with his constituents on critical issues of national importance thus concretely operationalizing the enduring principle of representativeness.

Mr.  Efosa Bello-Osagie, a public affairs commentator,m wrote from benin City, Edo State.