With just few hours before the commencement of the governorship election in Edo state, Comrade Kennedy Iyere, the Accord Party candidate has officially withdrawn from the race.
A prominent humanitarian activist and philanthropist, Iyere cited his aspiration to serve Nigeria at a higher level as his reason for stepping back.
He aims to leverage his expertise to tackle the country’s social and economic challenges, particularly the food and hunger crisis.
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Previously, he presented a multi-billion dollar initiative, the ‘Food4All Initiative,’ to President Bola Tinubu, which seeks to achieve food security and create mass employment for youth and women through the ‘One-Family-One-Farmer Scheme.’
Iyere’s decision was also influenced by internal conflicts within his party, including an alleged conspiracy involving his running mate, Bright Enabulele, to challenge his candidacy.
With less than 24 hours to Election Day, Iyere urged eligible voters in Edo State to reject violence and vote according to their conscience, stressing the importance of equitable power rotation among the state’s three Senatorial Districts.
He plans to focus on national development by assisting the federal government in creating a roadmap for economic inclusion and youth engagement through social intervention programs.
Iyere aims to launch initiatives in October 2024 that will create over six million entrepreneurs among youth and women, addressing unemployment and poverty.
His commitment to align with the Federal Government stems from a genuine desire to serve humanity through public service, rather than engaging in partisan politics.
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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 actually place limitations on me. So, when I saw the plots displayed by Enabulele and some leaders of 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 the month of 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 one 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,” Iyere stated.
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