Edo state Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has denounced ethnic campaigns of the opposition party in the state, saying the state government will work to unite all peoples in the State, since “we are one and the same.”
The Governor who also warned against the collection of land rent from Cocoa farmers in Okada, Ovia North East Local Government Area during a campaign rally to members of the Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo and Aqua-Ibom communities said they should not pay money to people who own farmlands.
According to him, the land belongs to the government and His Royal Majesty, the Oba of Benin.
“In Edo state we will not discriminate, instead, the government must to reunite the people, we are all one and the same,” he noted.
According to the governor, “the threat that if the cocoa farmers who are non-natives do not vote the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, their land will be taken from them is not possible.
“If you vote against the Action Congress of Nigeria you are still entitled to live on that land. Never pay money as cocoa farmers to any individual and if anybody threatens you, that person will be arrested. But when you make profits, you are entitled to pay tax to Edo state government,” he noted.
The governor who disclosed that under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria land is vested in the government and only government can revoke the land title stressed that, “if anybody harasses the cocoa farmers they should report to the government.”
In his words, the tax will be used to build more schools, more roads, provide street lights, hospitals and take water to the various communities in the state.
The governor who also at Ohosu, Nikoroga and Ofunama in Ovia South West, assured the riverine communities of government’s attention in the provision of basic amenities.
“In the first tenure of the administration, we have shown that it is possible to bring development to our communities as you can all see with the quality of schools we are building and the roads we are constructing across the state. it is a gradual process, what we still have to do is still much and if we have completed them, we would not have asked for a second tenure,” he added.
