During a meeting with journalists
at government house, Benin, last year, Godwin Obaseki, who has just got another
four-year mandate to govern Edo state, acknowledged the role Adams Oshiomhole
played in him bringing him to power but expressed shock over the turn of
events. He wondered why his relationship with “comrade”, as Oshiomhole’s
political allies refer to him, turned sour suddenly.
But Obaseki was confident of
victory, counting on the support of his people.
“Oshiomhole supported me in 2016.
He showed me to the people and they accepted me. Suddenly, he made a U-turn and
told them he wanted to introduce another person to them but they said ‘No. You
have shown us this one, we want to continue with him,” he had said.
Indeed, the September 19
governorship election was about Oshiomhole, a man who dominated the politics of
Edo like a Trojan for about 11 years. Many in Edo did not see any reason behind
the sudden disinterest in Obaseki by Oshiomhole. So, when Oshiomhole “undressed
Obaseki in the public”, the Edo people came to his rescue.
DISMANTLING OSHIOMHOLE’S
STRUCTURE
 |
| ‘You can help someone get a job but you should not help the person do the job’. This summaries Obaseki and Oshiomhole relationship |
Keen observers of Edo politics
believe one of the factors that made
Obaseki emerge victorious in the poll is certain changes he made shortly after
he assumed office. Perhaps the most talked-about is the removal of “thugs” as
agents for the collection of revenues within the Benin metropolis. Commercial
bus and taxi drivers, shop owners and hawkers within the Benin metropolis
heaved a sigh of relief after the then new governor put an end to the practice.
And he did not stop there.
Working in tandem with the Benin palace and the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II,
Obaseki announced the proscription of community development association (CDA),
thereby saving those who aspired to acquire lands from speculators who fed fat
on them. The politicians who had formed the habit of visiting the government
house to collect largesse got what they did not bargain for after Obaseki put
an end to such.
Overtime, commoners fell in love
with Obaseki and started seeing him as a shield from their oppressors. By
focusing on the people and resetting Edo, Obaseki won the hearts of the
majority of Edo people.
Obaseki’s supporters celebrating his victory in the poll
Teachers, civil servants and
pensioners soon joined the list of his admirers as protests over unpaid
entitlements disappeared. Some Edo residents see Obaseki as a governor who
outperformed his predecessors. Majority are quick to point at the rebuilt
Samuel Ogbemudia stadium, the new secretariat building and construction and
maintenance of roads. While many of his supporters admit that the governor has
not been able to create the 200,000 jobs he promised, they see his achievement
in the agricultural sector as a plus for his government. The attention paid to
technical and vocational education is equally well talked about following the
revitalisation of moribund technical and vocational institutions in the school.
OSHIOMHOLE’S SUDDEN U-TURN ON IZE-IYAMU
Still on Oshiomhole, his decision to back Osagie Ize-Iyamu and single-handedly replace Obaseki with the pastor came as a rude shock to many. Here is a man he vilified and called unprintable names in the run off to the 2016 governorship election. While it is given that only personal interests matter in the politics of Nigeria, the sight of Oshiomhole campaigning for Ize-Iyamu irritated many people.
 |
| Oshiomhole at a campaign rally of Ize-Iyamu |
Perhaps not in the history of
Nigeria has such rapprochement be seen before. The PDP capitalised on what
Oshiomhole used against Ize-Iyamu when he campaigned for Obaseki. While
Oshiomhole tried to wish away all the negative things he said about Ize-Iyamu
in 2016, PDP and Obaseki would not have that. Weeks before the election, they
compiled Oshiomhole’s vituperations against Ize-Iyamu and put turned it to a
video they put on a giant screen at Ring Road in the heart of Benin City. Giant
speakers were also put in strategic location for clear audio.
TINUBU’S VIDEO BROADCAST
 |
| With hindsight, does Tinubu think the video sank rather than save Ize-Iyamu? |
In a 4:53 minutes video broadcast
released on the election week, Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the APC,
appealed to the Edo electorate to reject Obaseki. But if truly he had the mind
of campaigning for Ize-Iyamu, the video achieved its exact opposite as it
triggered anger across the state.
As a natter of fact, shortly
after the video went viral, “Edo No Be Lagos” started trending on social media
and on Saturday, the people revolted against what they considered “undue
interference:
‘NO MAN IS GOD’
The expression, “no man is God”
was made popular in the politics of Edo by Adams Oshiomhole after he became
governor. After his electoral victory over political giants such as Anthony
Anenih, and the Esama of Benin, Gabriel Igbinedion, who hitherto dominated Edo
politics, Oshiomhole had famously declared that “no man is God” in his mockery
of the two elder statesmen. He further said that God used him to silence godfathers,
who he said held that every political power in the state must come from them.
Oshiomhole regarded Gabriel Igbinedion as one of the godfathers of Edo politics but he had his way.
The former governor refused to
accept allegations levelled against him that he had become the new godfather
after he single-handedly installed Obaseki governor in 2016. Obaseki had shown
no interest in becoming governor when Oshiomhole picked him out as his
preferred successor. By picking an unwilling horse in Obaseki, Oshiomhole
overlooked opinions from party leaders and killed the aspirations of those who
wanted to succeed him such as his then deputy, Pius Odubu.
In no time, the Edo people
started asking if it was right of Oshiomhole to decide for the rest of them who
should govern them. They took him back to his chant that “no man is God,”
asking him why he was trying to play God over their collective destiny. The
Benin people were particularly irked as to the reason why someone all the way
from Auchi will rubbish one of their own and tell the rest of them the right
path to follow. The resounding victory for Obaseki in the seven local
government area of Edo south on Saturday was a proof of how much the Benin
people resented Oshiomhole’s antics.
PDP’S POPULARITY AND ACCEPTANCE
 |
| When PDP offered Obaseki its umbrella after his former party threw him out |
While the APC and its parent
party, the ACN, dominated the politics of Edo between 2008 and 2020, the people
of the state never discarded their interests in the umbrella party. The party
has never lost presidential election in the state since 1999 and produced two
out of three senators in the state during the height of the APC’s domination in
the 2015 and 2019 elections. The central senatorial district populated by the
Esan people was even a fortress for the APC before now with the PDP winning all
national assembly seats in the area since 1999.
The marriage of Obaseki and the
PDP in June, according to political analysts, was all that PDP needed to add
the all important Edo south (Benin) to the one they already in their kitty, the
Edo central. Many knew that with the popularity Obaseki enjoys in Benin, there
was no way the PDP will lose in the zone with about 58 per cent of the entire
voters’ population in the state. Edo south plus Edo central is a win for PDP
even if the party records poor performance in the APC stronghold of Edo north
senatorial district. The election turned out this way even as the PDP performed
above expectations in the Edo north zone.
DIVISION IN EDO APC
 |
| Although Ojezua, former chairman of Edo APC, did not move to the PDP with Obaseki, he worked for the reelection of the governor |
While Oshiomhole dominated the
APC in Edo, some other leaders of the party in the state were not at home with
many of his actions but lacked the power to challenge him. The decision to give
the party’s gubernatorial ticket to Ize-Iyamu, however, was one they would not
take. Rather than decamp to the PDP like Obaseki, many of these leaders chose
to remain in the APC and work for the PDP. Those in this category are Osarodion
Ogie, secretary to the state government; Anslem Ojezua, factional Edo APC
chairman; Frank Okiye, speaker of the state house of assembly, and Matthew
Iduoriyekemwen.
The duo of Ogie and
Iduoriyekemwen were said to have combined forces to give PDP a resounding
victory in Ikpoba Okha local government area.
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