By Akanimo Sampson
The political vultures of Edo State appear to be very desperate for a plundering feast. It seems they have not been having their way easily to the resources of the state since 2016. To therefore, dismantle every obstacle to pillaging the state from 2020, their scheme is to abort Governor Godwin Obaseki’s re-election bid on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Surprisingly, Adams Oshiomhole, APC National Chairman, seems to be galvanising the abortion surgeons against Obaseki who he foisted on the state in 2016. The governor may not be a saint, but he has not been allowing the political vultures to feast with the treasury of Edo. To dislodge him from power, they are plotting to inject him with the killer Ambode virus.
In the not-too-far Lagos State, the political demi-gods of the commercial capital of Nigeria, programmed Akinwumi Ambode into Alausa in 2015 as governor. Before him have been Bola Tinubu (1999-2007) and Babatunde Fashiola (2007-2015). Arguably, by the quality of some of the development projects of Ambode, he may have outperformed those before him.
Apparently not impressed by his performance, the seeming intolerant political potentates of Eko unleashed their fangs on him. Allegedly, Ambode’s undoing was not keeping the vaults of Lagos open for the plundering king makers to feast on at the expense of his ambitious development drive. As a gentleman he appears to be, he restrained himself from fighting the entrenched political forces despite his governorship arsenals.
Obaseki must have learnt a lesson from the gangsterist politics of Lagos, and therefore, not in the frame to allow such gangsterism in Edo. The pioneer National Chairman of APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, who was a progressive governor of the state under the inconclusive transition programme of the Ibrahim Babangida military dictatorship, has been busy accusing his successor, Oshiomhole, of allegedly working to undermine Governor Obaseki.
Like they often say in some local communities, when two elephants fight, the grass suffers. In what is currently playing out in Edo APC, a supposed progressive party, it is the electorate that will suffer deprivation of the tangible dividends of democracy. The determinant of where the political pendulum will swing as 2020 approaches are Edo people. They have to choose between forces seeking to feast on the resources of the state, and those seeking to deploy them for her orderly development.
The political crisis in the state which is currently playing out in the state House of Assembly over the election of a Speaker is just a prelude to what to expect in the coming months. Already, a guarded whisper has it that those who are anxious to see the back of Obaseki at the Government House, Benin City, are showcasing a businessman from Oreos, Capt Hosa Okunbor, as his possible replacement.
In the mean time, Frank Okiye, who hails from Uromi, in Edo Central Senatorial District that emerged as the Speaker of the Legislative arm of the state government, is said not to be enjoying the blessing of Oshiomhole, battling to be the political godfather of Edo like Tinubu in Lagos. He has been allegedly micro-managing the lawmakers to reverse the situation in a seeming bid to make a political mincemeat of Obaseki.
While the APC State Chairman, Anslem Ojezua, is said to be in a dilemma on the fierce power game in the state, some lawmakers, nine of them, are said to be on the side of Governor Obaseki, with their Speaker. The rest are with Oshiomhole.
For Odigie-Oyegun, Oshiomhole and his faction who are protesting being outwitted by the Obaseki faction in the speakership recruitment in the Legislature, “is guilty of anti-party activities by working against the interest of the governor ahead of the governorship election holding next year.’’
It is being alleged that nine out of the 24-member state House of Assembly, sat on Wednesday and recruited the principal officers of the Legislature. But the APC in a statement by their National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu, stoutly condemned the action of the state legislators.
“As a party that has made a commitment to change, we strongly reject any attempt to recourse to brigandage of the past, when democratic practices were defined by the inordinate whims of people in power. It is an unfortunate reminder of Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) queer brand of democracy. Practices like this are unacceptable under APC-led administration’’, the APC statement said.
