By Abiola Olawale
The governorship candidate of the Accord Party, Mr Kennedy Iyere officially announced his decision to withdraw from the 2024 Edo Gubernatorial election on Friday, raising speculations to the actual reasons behind his stepping aside.
Iyere, in a statement issued on Friday, said the reason for the decision is to serve Nigeria at a higher level and wider space.
He pointed out that he hopes to leverage his expertise to address the country’s social and economic challenges, particularly food and hunger crisis.
He also explained that he had previously presented a multi-billion dollar food intervention program, ‘Food4All Initiative,’ to President Tinubu, aiming to achieve food security and mass employment for youths and women through the “One-Family-One-Farmer Scheme.”
Iyere also urged eligible voters in Edo State to shun violence and vote their conscience, emphasizing the need for equitable power rotation among the three Senatorial Districts.
He said: “My focus is no longer on the governorship seat but on a higher and bigger portfolio than a Governor. I want to serve Nigerians at large and not just Edo indigenes. I want to help rebuild Nigeria’s lost economic greatness.
“Serving as a Governor will place limitations on me. So, when I saw the plots displayed by Enabulele and some leaders of the Accord Party at the State Level, then I knew it was time for me to embrace a higher calling, which was to step up my game to the federal level where I am presently hugely contributing my efforts towards national development.
“I am assisting the federal government to devise a road map for the economic inclusion, engagement, self-emancipation and deradicalisation of youths by designing and driving social intervention programmes that aim to mitigate unemployment and enhance youth and women entrepreneurial opportunities for mass self-employment, wealth creation and poverty alleviation.
“These programmes will fully kick-start in October 2024 and Nigeria will be placed yet again on the pathway of rapid economic recovery. Our intervention programmes will enhance opportunities for youth entrepreneurship engagement in multiple sectors, especially agriculture, food and beverage, technology, entertainment, innovation and creativity.
“More than six million youth and women entrepreneurs (as MSME owners and operators) shall be created or produced within the first year of the official kick-off of this entrepreneurship programme. Nigerian youths and women lack access to the business capital required as entrepreneurs to either start up a new business or operate an existing business. This programme will squarely address that essential need.”
