The stage is set for the July 14
governorship election in Edo State with the emergence of General
Charles Airhiavbere (rtd) as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP). The endorsement of Governor Adams Oshiomhole as the
candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the election is a
fait accompli.
In essence, the governorship contest,
from all indications, is a two-horse race. This is because the ACN and
the PDP are the only parties with solid structures in Edo. Both
dominate the sphere of power. The PDP has five members in the State
House of Assembly by virtue of which it has produced the minority
leader.
At the national level, the PDP has
Senator Odion Ugbesia (representing Edo Central District) and the two
members of the House of Representatives —Friday Itulah and Patrick
Ikhariale — from the district. There is, indeed, something significant
about the PDP in Edo Central: the five members of the party in the
state legislature are from there.
The party lost the sixth constituency
seat marginally to the ACN candidate, Festus Ebea, who is today the
deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly. The central senatorial
district holds special attraction: it is the enclave of the godfather
of Edo politics and Iyasele (prime minister) of Esanland, Chief Tony Anenih. It took his sagacity and legerdemain to win the district for the PDP.
What that did was to put the lie to the
claim that Oshiomhole has taken absolute control of Edo politics.
Indeed, the bottom-line of the last April general election in the state
is that contrary to the theme song of his political propaganda, that he
owns the land, “Oshiomhole, indeed, does not own the land.” The land
belongs to Edo people.
Edo people are a complex diversity made
of different tribes. There are monolithic tribes of the Binis and
Esans as well as the multifaceted Afenmai ethnic nationality comprising
Etsako, Akoko-Edo and Owan people.
Figuratively, there is a tribe of
students. There is a tribe of civil servants. There is a tribe of
market men and women. There is a tribe of other self-employed people
who have been at the receiving end of the harsh tax regime and other
financially draining policies of the Oshiomhole government in Edo.
There is, on the political terrain, a tribe of godfathers, which
Oshiomhiole has tried, in vain, to eclipse.
These are the elements that will
coalesce to define a trajectory for Edo State on July 14. Will they
bring about a leadership change or will they maintain the status quo?
There is no doubt that the cloud is gathering. The wind is beginning
to act gutsy while the prospects of a torrentially devastating rain are
quite evident. The tribes are gathering as the governorship election
beckons on Edo people.
For instance, will the tribe of
students, especially those in Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, who have
been victims of Oshiomhole’s harsh policy of tuition fee increase from
N18, 000 to N64, 000, invest their votes in the perpetuation of the
policy? Will the market men and women, whose shops were demolished for
the reason of questionable road expansion and beautification of Benin
City, consequent upon which they were impoverished, happily step out in
the sun to vote for a man whose administration had meted to them a raw
deal? The self-employed and private businesses have continued to
buckle under a draconian tax regime. Will they embrace an
administration whose policies are bereft of a human face?
In Edo Central, Oshiomhole’s claim of
road development has been more of taunting political campaigns than
genuine development efforts. He is wont to claim that he has tarred
the road that leads to the home of Anenih. But all of these claims
will be subjected to acceptability test by the people as they vote on
July 14, this year.
But, significantly, will the tribe of
godfathers within and outside the ACN allow Oshiomhole to eclipse it?
Even though his claim that he had buried the godfather (Anenih) of
politics in Edo has been proved to be tenuous, should that not give him
away to the harried godfathers in the ACN that Oshiomhole is a
desperate power monger who wants to be the only cock that crows in the
political firmament of Edo?
Will they gleefully watch as he
transmogrifies into the grand patron of godfathers in their party?
Where are the Tom Ikimis, Tony Omoaghes and Osagie Izze-Iyamus of this
world? Is it not possible that these men are smarting in silence from
the onslaught against their tribe in the party they laboured to form in
the state? Won’t they be disposed to reaching out quietly to the tribe
of godfathers outside the party for a concert of forces to edge out a
man who has vowed to eclipse them?
It is a fact that Anenih has been the
first and the last man standing in and out of the PDP. He now has
formidable supporters in multi-billionaire businessman-politician,
Captain Hosa Okunbor and Chief Mike Oghiadhome (former Deputy Governor
and Chief of Staff to the President). Where is Samuel Ogbemudia?
Where is former Governor Lucky Igbinedion with his camp who provided
the structure that made Oshiomhole’s governorship candidature of the
ACN in 2007 possible? Where is the patriarch of the Igbinedion family,
Chief Osawaru Igbinedion (the Esama of Benin)? Are they suffering Oshiomhole’s political antics gladly?
These represent the finest crops of
political elite (read godfathers) in Edo politics. Will they allow an
opportunistic late entrant into the political field to decimate their
tribe using the instrumentality of state power which they can avert by
collectively mobilizing the electorate to vote for another candidate?
Can Oshiomhole, on the basis of his self-acclaimed achievements and in
spite of the tribes, win the governorship battle on July 14? Time will
tell.
— Ojeifo sent in this piece from Abuja
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