JUST IN: Benin Youth Council berates Ken Imasuangbon, describes him as a bad loser lacking political sportsmanship

By David Lawani, Abuja

The Benin Youth Council, BYC, have expressed their concern over the attacks credited to former Labour Party, LP, governorship aspirant, Kenneth Imasuangbon saying his act towards the Labour Party, LP, candidate,  Barr. Olumide Akpata falls short of their expectations.

Surv. Ugiagbe Omosigho,National Coordinator, Benin Youth Council, BYC, in a text of a press conference addressed on 1st May, 2024, stated that the macabre dance of Ken Imasuangbon and his lucid cold blooded intentions against the Benin Nation through his malicious attack against Barr. Osaigbovo Olumide Akpata will be constructively checkmated.

He said: ” As the saying goes, those who wish to ride on the back of a tiger definitely ends up in its belly. For it is necessary for every man not to put his personal interest over and above that of the collective wish of the people. In our clime, every politician is seen as selfish eccentric and ego-centric but only a minute few are different.

” For every politician that puts his personal interest above that of the people brews and instigates a volatile political atmosphere that leads to chaos that orchestrates unrest, maladministration, fouled leadership and even monumental poverty of his people.

” A leader needs to know what to do and when. What are the qualities that we look for in a leader? How do leaders achieve their status, or lose it? What roles do political parties and citizens play in the evolution and choice of political leaders. These are questions Ken Imasuangbon and his cohorts need to ponder. This simply explains why his political odyssey has been conterkerous and disastrous because he seems not to know how to plot his points and draw his graph politically to achieve the desired result.

” The Benin Youth Congress wishes to state unequivocally that any attempt by Ken Imasuangbon to stop Barr. Olumide Akpata in any way is tantamount to upturning the apple cart against the Benin Nation because it is becoming clearer that he is acting the script of his puppeteer to frustrate the only Benin candidate in the 2024 gubernatorial race to pave way for their new coalition candidate from Edo Central. Over the years, Imasuangbon’s political antecedents has shown that he is a bad loser who lacks the spirit of good sportsmanship. Each time contestations fail to go in/his favour, he threatens fire and brimstone until he gets settled.

” It is pertinent and fundamental for us to state here that as Barr. Asue Ighodalo and Sen. Monday Okpebholo are candidates of PDP and APC respectively from the Edo Central Senatorial districts so also is Barr. Olumide Osaigbovo AKpata, the substantive candidate of the Labor Party (LP) from Edo South Senatorial District.

” Those who lost out in the primaries of APC and PDP have since moved on and allowed their party leadership to exercise the internal mechanisms of crisis resolutions to take its course as good and loyal party men. We have it on good authority that Ken Imasuagbon and his cohorts are seriously out to play the ethnic card to frustrate the only vibrant candidate from Edo South and we shall invoke the numerical strength of our people to prevent this wholesome plot.

” Be that as it may, we are using this medium to call on all Benin socio-cultural and political organizations, the Benins in diaspora and most importantly the Chief John Odigie Oyegun led Benin group to jumpstart a robust ethnic politics in order to rally round and protect the Sanctity of the candidature of Barr. Olumide Akpata in the interest of the Benin Nation because for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

“We also wish to state here that the gang up against the people of Edo South due to our numerical strength and vast economic resources has become unprecedented and condemnable in its entirety. This explains why the five developmental infrastructural projects meant for Edo State were diverted to Edo North and not a Single one to Edo South by the Minister of the Niger-Delta Ministry, Hon. Abubakar Momoh.

” Suffice to say that the appointment of Abubakar Momoh as the Minister of the Niger-Delta Ministry was as a result of the vast oil wells and gas deposits in Edo South. Edo North where he hails from have no single oil well hut has chosen to insult our intelligence and punish us by nichodemously diverting all the Five projects to his place. We are also using this medium calling on all Benins both home and abroad to reject this crime against our people and its entirety.

” In the light of the aforementioned, we wish to call on the Benin National Congress (BNC) Worldwide to immediately institute a Legal suit against the Minister, Hon. Abubakar Momoh and the Niger Delta Ministry for violating the NDDC Acts and for their crime against the Benin Nation “for there come a time in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current it serves, or lose our ventures”.

” We wish to state that dexterity is not something we can hide; it shines in everyone who has steadfastly earned it. In the inner recesses of those who seem to be opposed to the fluorescent of professional or vocational achievements, they unequivocally admit that Barr. Olumide Akpata is a star, both in academic qualifications and administrative diplomacy.

“Hence, any attempt at derogation of his personality will be met with fierce restraint. It is imperative to emphasize the crucial need for the Benins in diaspora, as well as the well-meaning professionals and elites of Benin extraction, to take the lead in spearheading Benin groups. This initiative aims to kick-start a vigorous ethnic political movement that will unite and safeguard the candidature of Barr. Olumide Akpata in the best interest of the Benin Nation”, the group stated.