By Ehichioya Ezomon
Barely seven months to the September 19, 2020, governorship election in Edo State, the political war of attrition in the chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has shown no sign of abating, as the major combatants burrow deeper in the trenches.
The crisis between Governor Godwin Obaseki and his predecessor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has splintered the chapter in two, such that the otherwise low-hanging governorship seat is looking out of reach for the APC.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), long on life support, is feeling revived, and looking forward to wresting power from the APC – a task it has failed twice to achieve.
The battle for supremacy by the “two elephants,” regarded currently as the most illustrious political sons of Edo, has taken its toll in skirmishes among members of the APC, and raising the spectre of disrupting peace in the entire state.
Sadly, both sides have shunned peace efforts by well-meaning Nigerians, including the revered Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba Nedo Ukuakpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, and President Muhammadu Buhari.
Reconciliation committees set up – first by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC, and then the National Executive Committee (SEC), the highest organ of the party – have failed to register traction with the gladiators. None of the committees ever proceeded due to opposition to their constitution.
What’s the crux of the problem that’s become intractable to resolve in the same political family? It’s simply the insistence of Governor Obaseki on his “right of first refusal” to a second term in office, in line with the universal rules governing democratic system that allows for more than a single term of tenure.
But Comrade Oshiomhole, a two-term governor, who had enjoyed re-election in 2012, is accusingly bent on thwarting Obaseki’s aspiration for the same privilege.
On that score, he’s many questions to answer. Does the axiom, “What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,” hold true for only Comrade Oshiomhole, and not so for Governor Obaseki to have a second shot at the governorship of Edo State?
Why would Oshiomhole stand in the way of Obaseki, who served him for almost eight years as the Chairman of the Economic Strategy Team (EST) – the think tank and engine room for the development strides of his eight-year tenure as governor?
Didn’t Oshiomhole find Obaseki a worthy replacement at the Osadebey Avenue seat of government, and “unilaterally” picked him, and went all out to ensure he’s made governor in 2016?
What had gone wrong in barely two years – since 2018 – to warrant Oshiomhole “fighting tooth and nail” to stop Obaseki in his track that’s almost certain to land him in his second term?
Was there any agreement(s) – surely, there’re always agreements, generally a gentleman’s, between and among politicians on how to share the spoils of office – that Obaseki had breached, to necessitate the feud between them?
Is this a case of Oshiomhole trying to play the role of a political “godfather” to Obaseki, by dictating how to run his government that he (Obaseki) would account for its success or failure to the electorate at the end of his first term?
Did Oshiomhole forget something at the Government House, Benin City, that he wants to use a proxy to achieve a “Third Term” in government, so as to complete the “unfinished business” that Obaseki may not allow him access?
Was the behind-the-scenes animus that blew open the refusal of Governor Obaseki to hand over money-spinning, anti-people ventures to key political associates of Oshiomhole, as was reportedly the norm under his regime from 2008 to 2016?
Whatever his rationale for allegedly attempting to scuttle Governor Obaseki’s re-election, Comrade Oshiomhole should realise the following markers:
* The buck stops with Obaseki, and he alone should decide the direction his government is headed: whether to serve the people’s interests or those of a few politicians.
* When he’s governor, would Oshiomhole have tolerated a so-called “godfather” dictating how to run his government? We may recall that throughout his tenure, he’s fixated on banishing “godfatherism” from Edo State politics, and he actually dethroned the acclaimed “godfathers.” Why would he want to reintroduce the vanquished system to undermine Obaseki’s power in governance?
* Oshiomhole may inadvertently be inviting Karma to himself, by wanting to assume the position of “godfather” to Obaseki, who said Oshiomhole taught them to reject every and any godfather. Well, the legendary godfather and ‘Mr Fix It’ of Nigerian politics, the late Chief Anthony Anenih, would be having a wry smile, as the fight between Obaseki and Oshiomhole lingers. Remember how Oshiomhole, in the guise of waging war against godfathers, literally dragged Anenih on the political floor!
* Although politics is local – and he’s a card-carrying member at his ward in Etsako – Oshiomhole, now in the big league, should play at the national level, and leave local matters to the jurisdiction of the Edo APC, which Obaseki heads as governor on the platform.
Rather than engage in a game of “push and shove,” and thus allow the PDP to sneak in, Oshiomhole, in the all-important race for 2020, should unite the Edo APC, to salvage the party’s near debacle in the 2019 general election.
It won’t bode well for his image, as the National Chairman of the APC, a former governor of Edo State, and the “sole” sponsor of Obaseki as governor, to work for, and supervise his defeat in the September 2020 poll, in order to spite him.
That would add to the problems on Oshiomhole’s plate, including the failure of his NWC to reconcile the factions in the APC, leading to loss of key states to the PDP in the 2019 polls.
As the adult in the room, both at the national and subnational levels, Comrade Oshiomhole should toe the path of “two wrongs cannot make a right,” especially as it concerns Edo APC 2020!
Instead, he should reinforce, and not weaken the mansion he helped erect in 2016, with the election of Governor Obaseki as his successor. Working to make his “friend” a “one-term” governor would impact negatively on his legacy in Edo State.
LAST LINE: Reaction to: “The comedy at Imo House of Assembly.”
Jonas Egem, Owerri, Imo State (+2348034174482): “Mr Ezomon, Nigerian politicians have no shame and integrity. Only a violent revolution can solve Nigeria’s problem.”
- Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
