By USMAN ALIYU

Sen. Monday Okpebholo, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Sept. 21 election in Edo State, has pledged to prioritise security, education, health and economy, if elected.

Okpebholo disclosed this during an interactive session with the members of the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo Council on Tuesday in Benin.

The governorship candidate, who decried the level of insecurity in the state, promised to declare a state of emergency on security the first day he would assume office.

Okpebholo, who is currently representing Edo Central at the Senate, said he would equally revive the education system in the state.

“There is nothing in the much-talked-about EdoBEST education reform in the state, a better reform is nothing once APC takes over,’’ he said.

The APC flag bearer said he had gone round some schools and uncovered that many schools lacked basic infrastructure.

“Many schools need classrooms and teachers. Regrettably, there is a ratio of two teachers to more than 200 students in some of our schools.

“These are critical areas we will look into when I emerge. We will set the ball rolling with strong education reform,” he said.

He also expressed his plan to revamp the health sector, which he claimed had been in a state of comatose in the last eight years.

Okpebholo insisted that achievements of previous governments must be sustained, saying that government is a continuum.

He bemoaned the increasing debt profile of the state, which had risen from N43 billion to more than N500 billion currently.

“As an IT expert, I will deploy my experience to bring in international investors to the state and not the Memoranda of Understanding which the current government is synonymous with.

Okpebholo hinted that the state would operate its own airline like some states in the country under his watch as governor.

“We are going to see a new Edo. Benin was the capital city during the defunct Midwestern state and also capital for the old Bendel.

“Unfortunately, there is no single flyover bridge in Benin. Go to Calabar, go to Port Harcourt, you will appreciate that we still need a lot of modern infrastructure,” he said.

He promised to provide good environment that would create jobs and other opportunities that would accelerate development. (NAN)