Even with high traffic build up
in the major roads that traverse the city, Benin, the capital of Edo State was
calm on Friday morning.
Though the 14 political parties
participating in the state’s governorship election which was less than 24 hours
away were supposed to have rounded off their campaigns on Thursday, as at the time of writing this story, some of
the posters deployed for publicity by the contestants, their parties and supporters are still firmly
in place on billboards, walls of buildings, offices, private homes and other
places where they were pasted.
Yet, another indication of the
imminence of the governorship election
were convoys of government officials and security operatives moving with
sirens in the state capital and other places.
Some of the residents who spoke to this magazine indicated that they will soon leave for their villages later in day in order in order to perform their civic duties.
Though 14 candidates are
participating in the election, the two candidates on the lips of the voters are
Governor Godwin Obaseki who is seeking re-election on the platform of Peoples
Democratic Party and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress,
APC.
The two candidates had campaigned
across the 192 wards of the State, using every trick possible to outwit the
other in order to gain the support of the electorate.
The two candidates were not
strangers when it comes to gubernatorial battle. Obaseki and Ize-Iyamu were
also the leading candidates in the 2016 Edo gubernatorial election. Obaseki,
who contested on the platform of APC defeated Ize Iyamu, then of PDP, in the 2016
battle by a slim margin.
In tomorrow’s contest, both
candidates have switched platforms with Obaseki now the flag bearer of PDP
while Ize Iyamu is the candidate of APC.
Below are other facts to know
about the two gubernatorial candidates
Governor Godwin Obaseki
Governor Obaseki was a stock
broker and investment banker before joining the administration of former
governor Adams Oshiomhole, as head of the economic and strategic team.
He served Oshiomhole for eight
years and the former governor described him as the ‘brain box’ of his
government.
He later succeeded Oshiomhole as governor in
2016, on the platform of the APC.
Even though a green horn in
politics, it was believed that Obaseki mastered the tricks and maneuverings of
politics under the watch of Oshiomhole before they fell apart.
He has been described as
anti-democrat because of his frustration of attempts to swore -in 17 lawmakers
elected in 2019 general election into the Edo House of Assembly.
He also enjoys the unflinching
support and loyalty of his deputy, Philip Shaibu, who is a thorough-bread
politician.
Pastor Osagie Ize-lyamu
Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, or POI, as he is popularly known, is a grassroots politician whose loyalists spread across the 18 local government areas of the state.
He served as chief of staff to
former governor Lucky Igbinedion, and later Secretary to State Government
between 1999 and 2007.
Ize-Iyamu served as the
Director-General of Oshiomhole’s re-election campaign in 2012.
He later fell out with Oshiomhole
and in 2014 defected to the PDP, where he picked the party’s governorship
ticket, but lost the election to the incumbent.
It is believed that he has
structures across the 192 wards in the state
Analysts says his greatest
strength lies in his foot soldiers and his investment in people across the
state, when he held-sway as the SSG and Chief of Staff to Edo State Government.
He is also a Pastor of the
Redeemed Christian Church of God and he regularly took time off during the
campaign to attend church services
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