Candidate steps down from Edo governorship bid to focus on multi-billion-dollar food security initiative

• Comrade Kennedy Iyere, the Accord Party's candidate for the Edo gubernatorial election, has officially withdrawn from the race, citing a shift in focus toward national service
• Iyere, a well-known entrepreneur and philanthropist, recently launched the multi-billion-dollar “Food4All Initiative” to combat food insecurity and drive mass employment across Nigeria
• Describing his decision, Iyere stated that serving as a governor would limit his broader ambitions to help rebuild Nigeria's economic greatness on a national scale

In a striking turn of events on the eve of the Edo gubernatorial elections, Comrade Kennedy Iyere, the entrepreneur and philanthropist, has officially withdrawn from the race.

Iyere, who was the governorship candidate for the Accord Party, cited a broader vision for Nigeria as the driving force behind his decision.

Edo 2024: Candidate withdraws from gubernatorial race. Photo credit: Legit Nigeria
Source: Original

Candidate withdraws from Gubernatorial race

Over recent months, Iyere has become more deeply involved in national food security, leading the "Food4All Initiative," a multi-billion-dollar intervention designed to tackle food insecurity across the country.

The initiative, which was presented to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, aims to drive economic engagement through the "One-Family-One-Farmer Scheme." The project, backed by the Youths Off The Street Initiative (YOTSI) and Multi-Life Savers for the Less-Privileged People, is poised to create mass employment opportunities for youths and women.

Justifying his withdrawal from the race, Iyere in a statement which reads in part 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. I am a man of sophisticated international contacts, connections and influence, as a high-profile philanthropreneur, grant facilitator and humanitarian activist. Therefore, serving as a governor will actually place limitations on me. 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 are all sure to 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 stressed.

Verydarkman attacks Edo political parties

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, also known as Verydarkman, has revealed that some of the country's political parties were contacting him ahead of the hotly contested Edo state governorship election.

Legit.ng reported that Senator Monday Okpebholo (APC), Asue Ighodalo (PDP), and Olumide Akpata (LP) are locked in a battle over the forthcoming Edo state guber.

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Source: Legit.ng