Edo: Failure of ‘the complete circle’

By Osagie Otabor, Benin.

How are the mighty fallen”,  a commercial motorcyclist who gave his name as John said repeatedly when asked about his impression of the results of the Edo governorship election declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The results showed that it was an historic  event where a candidate of a political party would secure victory in all the 18 local government areas in Adams. Oshiomhole of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) polled  477,478 votes to defeat his rival Major-General Charles Airhiavbere of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 144,235. Oshiomhole had the highest votes from Oredo and Ikpoba-Okha where he had 66,522 and 58,809.
 John’s comments could not have been unconnected with the defeat of many political bigwigs. The parade of political heavyweights by the PDP as the election approached heightened tension and supporters of the ACN were apprehensive about the magic wand the PDP bigwigs could sway.
However, the PDP heavyweights have been humbled and they have been crushed. ‘The complete circle’ of Anenih, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia and Chief Gabriel Igbinedion including others failed to stop Oshiomhole. Top on the list is Chief Tony Anenih who many said hoped to retire to a fulfilled retirement from active politics after overseeing the restoration of PDP back to power in the state.
Before the 2011 election, the blessing of Chief Anenih was sought after by aspirants seeking political offices. Anybody politically blessed by Anenih is confident of securing victory at the polls. Anenih was a colossus not only in Edo but across the state. In 1983, he led the NPN who fielded Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia to defeat incumbent Prof. Ambrose Alli of the UPN. During General Ibrahim Babaginda transition programme, Chief Anenih led the Social Democratic Party to victory in Edo State and eventually to the annulled June 1993 presidential election. In 1999, he also saw the emergence of the PDP to power in the state. His ability to deliver at elections earned him ‘Mr. Fix it’ but a Prof. said “Mr. Fix it has been fixed”.   
Anenih had repeatedly vowed to restore Edo State to the PDP since 2008. In one of the PDP rallies, he said, “I mean it, I mean it, I mean it.” In another rally, he said politics were not played on the pages of newspaper and that the PDP must get back to Osadebey Avenue no matter how long it takes.
The grip Anenih had on Edo politics started to dwindle last year when he managed to win in five local governments in Edo State.  The victory at the five local polls gave the PDP hope that Mr fix it could still fix things. After the results were announced, Anenih realised that his Uromi kinsmen had lost faith in his leadership. The PDP polled 12,478 to ACN’s 13,086 votes in Esan North East. The Uromi Chief once declared that he would be finished politically if the PDP lost an election in the state. 
Another PDP chieftain that was humbled is Chief Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion, the Esama of Benin. He is the father of Lucky who governed the state between 1999 and 2007. To show his determination for the restoration of the PDP to power in the state, Chief Igbinedion dressed in red attire to a PDP rally at his hometown where he begged his people to vote for the PDP. His support for the PDP gave the PDP supporters hope that victory is secure in Ovia North East and Oredo where Igbinedion is thought to hold great political influence. What he perhaps did not realised was that the people had not forgotten the infrastructural decay his son left after eight years. The PDP lost at the polling units where he voted at Oredo local council and also in Ovia North East local council where he hails from. ACN scored 26, 835 votes to PDP 5,427 votes.
When a retired pilot, Captain Hosa Okunbo declared support for the PDP, it was thought that his financial muscle could do the magic for the PDP in Oredo local council. A former financial of the ACN in the state, Captain Hosa in an interview said he left ACN because the Benins lacked political leadership at the federal level. He founded the Oghomwan group to rally the Benins support for the PDP but the PDP only scored 9,081 votes to 66,522 votes garnered by the ACN.
In Estako Central, two prominent leaders of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih and Chief Mike Ogiadomhe were taught some lessons. Chief Orbih is the State Chairman of the PDP while Ogiadomhe was a former Deputy Governor and presently Chief of Staff to President Goodluck Jonathan. They have been repeatedly defeated in all elections conducted in Estako Central since 2008. They both lost in their polling units. The PDP had 5,113 while the ACN had 13,499.
Other PDP bigwigs that were humbled included Mr. Lucky Imasuen, Johnsons Agbolagba, Pascal Ugbome, Ken Imasuangbon known as ‘Rice man’, Kassim Ozetu and many others.