Tag: Ese Ohwojeheri campaign

The African Action Congress candidate for the Edo South Senatorial District, Eseoghene Ohwojeheri, popularly known as Ese, has formally flagged off his campaign with a rally in Benin City, taking his message of openness and everyday welfare to the streets as the race for the Senate gathers pace. The rally, which held on Saturday at 9am, started from the National Museum on Ring Road, marking the public launch of a campaign he had earlier promoted on social media and radio. In an invitation sent ahead of the event, he urged supporters and well wishers to come out and be counted, insisting that what Nigeria needs to change for the better is no longer the real problem, and that the true hurdle is getting elected. Ese Ohwojeheri, whose name appears on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s final list of Senate candidates for Edo South, is contesting the Senate seat in the Presidential and National Assembly elections fixed for January 16, 2027. He is stepping into a field that also includes candidates of the PDP, the NDC and other parties, which makes visibility an urgent priority for a candidate from a smaller platform. At the heart of his campaign is a promise of openness. He has said he intends to be among the first to openly use the Senate for the good of the people, to the extent that every kobo received and spent would be published for public scrutiny. For voters long frustrated by opaque public spending, that pledge speaks directly to a question many Nigerians ask after every election cycle, where did the money go. The candidate also says he has written about 25 bill summaries to show what he would bring to the legislature. Among them is a Compulsory Shift Bill, meant to cut working hours for people who are not being paid enough, and a Budget Transparency Bill, which would require government to report its spending so citizens can compare it with what was budgeted. Another proposal, the Fair Contract Bill, would open government contracts to everyday traders, a nod to small business owners who often feel shut out of public procurement. Taken together, the proposals sketch an agenda built around workers, small traders and public accountability, summed up in his campaign slogan, People Over Personal Interest. Ese has been candid about the odds, describing the road to the Senate as an uphill battle and the flag off as an important step in showing that his campaign is on the ground and deserves attention. His belief is that once people see that his camp is different, the choice will not be a hard one to make. His outreach has also carried a notably humble tone. Ahead of the rally, he asked guests to confirm their attendance so organisers could plan for numbers, adding that he would fully understand whatever answer anyone gave, a gentle contrast with the loud rhetoric that often defines campaign season. With the flag off done, the real work now begins. The coming weeks will show how far a message built on transparency and everyday welfare can travel in a district long dominated by bigger parties, and whether voters in Edo South are ready to give an alternative voice a seat in the Senate. By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed