Embattled former Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is set to take the All Progressives Congress, APC Senate ticket for Edo North on Saturday after the incumbent, Senator Francis Alimikhena pulled out of the contest and dumped the party.
Reports have it that the development follows repeated intrigues that have seen the change of delegates’ list in Edo North in recent days.
Oshiomhole who had initially indicated interest in the Senate race and then leaped into the presidential race, is reported to have returned to fight Alimikhena leading into repeated intrigues over the delegates’ list for the primaries. Oshiomhole seemed to have prevailed with those he backed winning lower level positions in Edo North.
• Senator Francis Alimikhena
Alimikhena had anchored his campaign on getting the Senate Presidency or any principal position zoned to the South-South on the claim that he would be the most senior Senator from the region in the next Senate.
In a deft move to stop Alimikhena, the Oshiomhole camp was reported to have backed Sunday Anamero Dekeri from the incumbent’s local government area of Etsako East to obtain the APC’s Federal Constituency ticket for Etsako East/West/Central Federal Constituency.
Since Alimikhena is from the same Etsako East as Dekeri, political pundits in Edo North have said that it would be untenable for the same Etsako East to produce the House of Representatives and Senate candidates.
Oshiomhole is from Etsako West.
It was gathered that Alimikhena is by no way surrendering the seat to Oshiomhole. Following his decision to dump the APC the incumbent senator it was gathered, was on Saturday morning heading to Abuja to negotiate his way into another political party from which he would confront Oshiomhole and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP candidate, Paschal Ugbome.
