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Tag: Edo

  • ‘Why Edo people rejected PDP’

    ‘Why Edo people rejected PDP’

    The Edo Unity League, a socio-cultural organization in Edo State, has attributed the defeat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, to the “vindictive politics and unpopular policies” of outgoing Governor Godwin Obaseki.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, emerged victorious in the September 21 election.

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Arch. Agbado Oboneyaen, the League emphasized that Obaseki’s strained relationship with the political elite and his perceived insensitivity to the concerns of the people led to the PDP’s downfall.

    It reads: “Anyone with an understanding of the internal discord within the PDP, particularly the opposition from founding members against the outgoing governor, could have predicted Senator Okpevbolo’s victory. It was not a surprise but rather the culmination of clear and inevitable factors.”

    The group highlighted that in Edo South, the most populous region of the state, where Obaseki hails from, voters were disillusioned with the governor’s administration. “For many in Edo South, voting for the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, was seen as endorsing Obaseki’s administration, which they perceived as vindictive and tyrannical,” the statement added.

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    Oboneyaen noted that the people of Benin felt that Obaseki’s governance style attempted to institutionalize a culture of retribution, with royal figures and notable community members often targeted unfairly. “There was a growing sentiment that the governor’s actions, such as the arbitrary revocation of Certificates of Occupancy from prominent local entrepreneurs in favor of his allies, many of whom are based in Lagos, were harmful to the community’s interests.”

    He added: “The people of Benin were deeply aggrieved, feeling that their culture and heritage were under attack. They did not need financial incentives to reject the PDP. In fact, the electoral score attributed to the PDP in this election seems surprisingly high and undeserved.”

    In Edo Central, the group said it was a clear choice between a familiar figure and an outsider. “Sen. Monday Okpevbolo is seen as a son of the soil with a strong commitment to community development, respect for traditional institutions, and a reputation for empathy. The people rallied behind him with overwhelming support, unprompted by financial incentives,” the statement explained.

    In Edo North, voters reportedly felt betrayed by Obaseki’s treatment of former governor Adams Oshiomhole, a key figure in the region. “The betrayal of Oshiomhole by the outgoing governor was seen as unforgivable, and voters sought to express their disapproval by overwhelmingly supporting the APC.”

    Summing up, the League concluded: “Asuen Ighodalo was burdened by the baggage of the outgoing governor’s actions. The election result was a clear message from Edo people to Obaseki – that integrity and goodwill matter in leadership.”

  • Edo (no) be Lagos!

    Edo (no) be Lagos!

    Edo no be Lagos!  That was Governor Godwin Obaseki’s victory whoop in 2020!

    He had not only worsted his godfather, sitting Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, he also gloated over the collapsed open Benin campaign for the APC candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, by the then APC National Leader but now President Bola Tinubu.

    Well, Obaseki and confederates, across PDP and APC, just slew the dragon — and no one would deny them their well-earned victory roar!

    But it was crass ingratitude writ large — for Lagos not only paved Obaseki’s path to the Edo governorship, Lagos would also provide the “raw material” for Obaseki’s preferred successor, Asue Ighodalo, so Lagos-bred, his opponents claimed, he couldn’t fluently speak his native Ishan language!

    Well, by Ighodalo’s loss at the September 21 Edo election, that ingratitude just caught up with Obaseki.  Ighodalo’s electoral conqueror, Monday Okpebholo, seems to be learning fast from Obaseki’s pit falls.

    Though he has not said it, his body language seems screaming: “Edo na Lagos o!”

    At a critical point during the polls, a video from the APC Situation Room went viral.  Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State led the praise-and-worship.  Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was Abiodun’s praise cheer leader. Ondo’s Lucky Ayedatiwa too put in his bit.  Contrasted to the grim mood at the PDP Situation Room, it was the earliest signal yet that Obaseki and protégée had been well and truly beaten!

    Yet, it was Lagos that Governor-elect Okpebholo first visited, on his round of thank you visits!  No, Okpebholo is no Lagos boy.  Indeed, he is as rooted in Edo as Obaseki and Ighodalo are grounded in Lagos.  Still, it’s a mark of gratitude for him to rush to Lagos to thank the governor for his support and solidarity during a blistering and close poll.

    Another thing: Okpebholo would appear as humble as Obaseki is imperious.  That personality trait is said to have won over many of the grassroots folks that pushed him over the line.  He’s said to be folksy as he is humble.

    Read Also: Edo 2024: Enabulele thanks Accord Party supporters

    Still, as Sam Omatseye correctly noted in his column on this back page yesterday, with so many contributing to his poll success and so many egos waiting to be massaged  after he takes office, Sanwo-Olu is his logical model, to successfully manage the IOUs he has amassed.

    Yes, Lagos has promised Edo under Okpebholo its winning blueprints.  That’s not new: it was the same under Governor Oshiomhole; and had Obaseki not been such a ringing renegade, it should have been the same under him too.  Inter-state cooperation and collaboration, in mutual respect and dignity, is something to be encouraged.

    Yet, what Okpebholo needs more is Sanwo-Olu gracious and balancing skills while dealing with his many helpers.  The Lagos APC “powers and principalities” call him “Mr. Sellable”. That’s fond admission of the grace with which he relates with them.

    Between Sanwo-Olu and his predecessor, Akinwunmi Ambode, that made a huge difference.  Had Obaseki been more “sellable” he’d probably not be grinding his teeth in painful defeat today!  Okpebholo is learning the right lessons.

  • Edo and election deniers

    Edo and election deniers

    The stiffest challenge to democracy from 1999 to 2015 — effective 2003 when President Olusegun Obasanjo pulled off the first of the rotten elections under his watch — was nuclear-scale rigging that knocked everyone cold.

    Post-2015 though, technology-aided electoral reforms have crushed these brazen vote grabs. So, the new bad boys have become the growing tribe of strident election deniers. As it was after the 2023 general election, so has it been in Edo after the September 21 gubernatorial election.

    APC’s Monday Okpebholo (291, 667 votes) worsted PDP’s Asue Ighodalo (247, 274) with LP’s Olumide Akpata (22, 763) a mere cannon-fodder, after the grand delusion as a third force.

    The wanton riggers of yore have thus become the shrill election deniers of now!  But de-marketing elections, after what seems a fair loss, isn’t good for anyone.

    Still, back to the basics, after Edo ‘24 had been lost and won.

    Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, sitting Edo North senator, was not on the ballot on September 21.  But he might well have been!

    Starkly put, Oshiomhole won and Godwin Obaseki lost.  Okpebholo (Edo Central senator), “did”. Ighodalo (Lagos lawyer and boardroom guru) “died”.  Obaseki had proclaimed it would be “do-or-die”! 

    A cynic, in a macabre pun of the two candidates’ first names, chimed: Asue not only “died”, he was mere “asun” — Yoruba for grilled, spicy meat — in Monday’s Sunday election victory bash!  The winner was declared on Sunday, September 22.

    Still, Obaseki could fairly argue that he meant “do-or-die”, not exactly as President  Obasanjo’s chilly diktat of 2007.  He just meant if APC won — “did” — Edo (and the Obaseki El-dorado from 2016) would “die”. 

    Well, Obaseki got his “death” wish!  Talk of a dire, self-fulfilling prophecy!

    Read Also: Governor-elect will ensure better, renewed Edo, says Osagie

    Though not on the ballot too, the out-going governor plagued Ighodalo, his wished-for successor, all of the way, with so much baggage. For the Esan-born boardroom guru, it was bruising defeat waiting to happen. Only Ighodalo didn’t see what was clear to all!

    It was Obaseki in 2024, playing Oshiomhole in 2016.  What farce! 

    In 2016, Oshiomhole had carried Obaseki on his back. He flaunted his stellar feats from 2008 to 2016; and pushed his “technocrat” protégée as a good son in whom he was well pleased. Oshio-Baba’s goodwill paid off.  Obaseki was governor.

    In 2024, Obaseki too lugged poor Ighodalo, to make the same rounds.  But what leapt off the pair were Obaseki’s many sins, against too many people. 

    The revered Bini royal court groaned. Edo folks that felt cheated by Obaseki railed.  Betrayed political peers bawled! The Legacy PDP screeched! Yes, Obaseki didn’t lack own friends. But you could see where the pendulum would swing. It was payback time!

    That grim harvest buried luckless Ighodalo in Obaseki’s hubris.  Karl Marx was right: history repeats itself first as tragedy; and ultimately as farce!  The defeat of Obaseki and the return of Oshiomhole ticked all those dire boxes. 

    Obaseki’s farcical claim to godfather just went up in smoke.  Just as well!

    Still, the PDP, Obaseki’s acquired party for second term, has got to be the bristling haven for everything wrong with Nigeria’s democracy: cold election riggers when in power (1999-2015); hot election deniers when out of it (2015-2024 — and counting).

    Even Donald Trump, the perfect living master of election-is-free-only-when-I-win vile credo, must be picking up some new tricks from this terrible breed!

    In 2019, APC’s David Lyon won the Bayelsa governorship, thrashing PDP’s Duoye Diri by 352, 552 to 143, 173 votes. 

    But by cruel legal technicality, the Supreme Court gifted Lyon’s win to Diri, claiming that Lyon’s running mate, Biobarakuma Degi, “forged” his certificates — and on Lyon’s swear-in eve, 13 February 2020, when the governor-elect was rehearsing his inauguration parade drill in Yenagoa! 

    Though Degi, a Bayelsa East senator, would later prove in court that those changing names were of the same person, in different phases of his school life — thus making nonsense of the so-called “forgery” — Diri would gain office from an election he lost; before winning a legit second term, for which he is still governor.  To the PDP, that was beautiful democracy!

    But imagine Lyon’s fate befalling a PDP candidate?  All hell would have broken loose: the “international community” would have been told to write the obituary of Nigerian democracy — if not Nigeria itself; and the Supreme Court would have been branded as irredeemably corrupt and “bought” — just as PDP and LP did after the 2013 polls.

    Yet, that happened under APC President, Muhammadu Buhari, and heavens didn’t fall. But can you even imagine that under PDP President Obasanjo, the unfazed patron saint of do-or-die elections, with Maurice Iwu billeted as regimental INEC chair?

    In truth, you can’t put election gas-lighting beyond any party — not APC, not PDP, and certainly not the hypocritical LP, under the chimera-like Peter Obi, with his dramatic foams and fantastic claims.

    Indeed, Obi is holy political ogre, thriving on sacred lies and blessed fibs.  That’s why he and his Obidients are delusional beyond measure. Which explains why they become more and more fleeting, after that electoral over-performance of 2023. 

    Edo ‘24 is latest living proof of that meltdown, with Akpata no more than a footnote. But of course, the arch-delusional Obi had declared the Edo result wouldn’t stand — hell, it won’t!  Just as Obi’s fantastic claim of winning the Presidency stood in court!

    But again, no party is a saint in election deceit — not with the dominant cynical ethos of rig or be rigged out; and that habit to hang INEC for politicians’ execrable conduct.

    Even then, you could tell a decent election, even with all the fiercely competing bad grace. On September 21, Edo North stood firm — and tall — for the APC candidate; while both Edo Central and Edo South were veritable battle grounds. 

    While the APC posted towering wins in Edo North, PDP got close victories where it prevailed in Edo Central — where Okpebholo and Ighodalo hailed — and Edo South. 

    At the end, APC ran away with victories in 11 local governments out of 18, while PDP took two Edo senatorial districts — Central and South — in close wins that were effectively losses.  LP?  No more than dazed onlookers in the sweepstakes!

    Again, the drag was Obaseki, the self-made Macbeth, of Edo’s pay-back politics.  After killing off the “Banquos”, and the “Malcolms” of his Edo tenure, he was fated to “die” by sword of the “Macduffs” — Oshiomhole, reinstated Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu, rejected Deputy Governor nominee, former Edo Speaker Kabiru Adjoto, in his Akoko-Edo lair, and Kazeem Afegbua, in his Okpella bastion — all, by the way, in Edo North!

    Asue Ighodalo appears a brilliant lawyer and a decent gentleman.  So, let him quietly gather evidence to challenge his defeat at the tribunal; and shun post-poll fiction.

    But in the passion of the moment, let him resist joining brazen election deniers.

    Still, by Obaseki’s visit to the INEC Benin office on election night — in blind panic? — and Adamawa Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, playing rogue INEC by announcing “results” with Ighodalo in-situ, he already risks fair and legitimate stain by association.

    That could blight his political career in the long run.  As for Obaseki, his political goose is cooked — and fairly so: his grating ingratitude riled almost everyone that paved his way to the top!  They were all too happy to send him crashing down.

  • Edo 2024: UK commends peaceful conduct of governorship poll

    Edo 2024: UK commends peaceful conduct of governorship poll

    The British High Commission has praised the Edo State governorship election on Saturday, September 21, as largely peaceful and urged for calm after the results were announced.

    In a statement issued on Wednesday, the commission emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and commended the people of Edo State for their participation in the election process.

    “The UK commends the largely peaceful conduct of the elections and the voters of Edo State for their participation,” the statement read.

    The Returning Officer for the September 21, Edo State governorship election, Prof. Faruk Adamu Kuta, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, Niger State, declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the keenly-contested election at 9:26 p.m. on Sunday, September 22.

    Read Also: Edo 2024: PDP tackles Ganduje over comments on polls

    Kuta announced that Okpebholo, representing Edo Central Senatorial District, secured 291,667 votes, defeating the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, who garnered 247,274 votes.

    Labour Party’s (LP) Olumide Akpata, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), came a distant third with 22,763 votes.

    The UK Commission advised parties who were unhappy with the results of the election to take their complaints to court.

    They emphasised that all complaints should be handled fairly and transparently by the Independent National Electoral Commission and other pertinent authorities.

    “Electoral and legal processes exist to address any challenges or disputes, and we encourage the authorities, including INEC, to examine all concerns transparently and in good faith,” the commission added.

  • Edo: Court to hear Shaibu’s contempt claim against Obaseki’s deputy October 24

    Edo: Court to hear Shaibu’s contempt claim against Obaseki’s deputy October 24

    • Motions to stay execution of judgment voiding ex-deputy governor’s sack struck out

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled hearing for October 24 in a contempt proceeding initiated by reinstated Edo State Deputy Governor Phillip Shuaibu against Marvellous Godwins Omobayo who is claiming to be the state’s deputy governor.

    Justice James Omotosho chose the date yesterday after Shuaibu’s lawyer, Reuben Eguaba, drew the judge’s attention to a motion by his client seeking Omobayo’s committal to prison for allegedly failing to comply with a subsisting order of the court.

    Justice Omotosho directed that Omobayo be served with all the documents filed so far, including Form 49, filed on September 19 by Shuaibu.

    The judge said the service was necessary to give the alleged contemnor the opportunity to purge himself of the alleged contemptuous act.

    He said: “This matter is hereby adjourned till October 24 for hearing of the motion on notice, dated September 13 and filed on September 19, seeking for committal of Marvellous Godwins Omobayo and to give him opportunity to defend himself.

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    “I hereby make an order that the motion (for committal) be served on Marvelous Godwins Omobayo to enable him file necessary defence.”

    Eguaba had urged the court to grant a short adjournment in the case since the tenure of the current administration in state will expire on November 12.

    The plaintiff’s lawyer told the court that its judgment, delivered on July 17 voiding Shuaibu’s impeachment and ordering his reinstatement, was duly served on Omobayo and that several letters were also written to the Edo State House of Assembly, which they allegedly ignored.

    During an earlier proceedings, Justice Omotosho struck out the two motions filed by the Edo State government and the House of Assembly seeking to stay the execution of the judgment reinstating Shaibu as deputy governor of Edo State.

  • Edo: One poll, two referendums

    Edo: One poll, two referendums

    In many jurisdictions, off-cycle or mid-term legislative and gubernatorial elections are cast as referendums on the government at the centre. Where the administration is struggling, usually the ruling party’s flagbearers at different levels are punished. Last Saturday’s governorship poll in Edo State was set against the backdrop of a lingering cost of living crisis that has put many on edge.

    Some of the shock that trailed the victory of Senator Monday Okpebholo, candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), flows from this. But it confirms that politics is not as straightforward as solving a mathematical equation; it’s more complex. It reaffirms the old truism that all politics is local.

    Many will recall that the February 2023 presidential election was held against a canvass of harsh measures taken by the then President Muhammadu Buhari administration. Those actions had observers questioning whether APC was really keen on winning the poll. In January, it unveiled the naira swap policy that vacuumed the currency out of circulation. An irate citizenry, unable to access their funds through the banks, were primed to unleash fury against the ruling party.

    As if the currency change wasn’t bad enough, fuel pumps also ran dry across the country – triggering a spike in prices. At the height of the crisis an exasperated APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, blurted out at a campaign stop in Abeokuta, Ogun State, that the measures were aimed at stopping him from winning. They were believed to be engineered by forces within his own party who weren’t too thrilled at the prospect of him becoming president.

    He then declared defiantly that even if every naira note was recalled or fuel taps shut, Nigerians would vote and he would be elected. His prophecy came to pass: the rest is history.

    Again, many who were incredulous at APC holding on to power last year, despite the blowback arising from its badly-timed policies, forgot that the dynamics which determine poll outcomes are unpredictable. Elections are not always won by the most pleasant, eloquent, educated candidates; building roads, bridges, schools and hospitals is also no guarantee that an incumbent would be returned to office. Sometimes, mundane matters like likeability, gender, misinformation, ethnicity, hate make the difference.

    Still, Nigeria’s current economic struggles were a gift which the opposition parties could have made a meal of. But it wasn’t an issue that resonated. All those who had been waiting to write the obituary of the Tinubu presidency were left scratching their heads – even predicting that if the trend continued, he might be very difficult to dislodge in 2027.

    Read Also: Abia govt to implement new minimum wage for civil servants in October

    If one side failed to make the poll a referendum on the performance of the ruling party, their rivals successfully turned it into payback time for outgoing Governor Godwin Obaseki who had managed to transform everyone he could find into political foes.

    If the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) who are making the usual noises about Nigeria’s democracy being in ICU would be honest, they were defeated not account of rigging, but because they came to the fight with a divided house, one whose arrowhead had been successfully defined as the villain of the piece.

    It wouldn’t be a Nigerian election if there were no allegations of manipulation and vote buying. Unfortunately, none of the leading parties – including the distraught losers – is in a position to point fingers.

    The PDP lost this election because its outgoing state leader Obaseki, forgot how he won a second term. Orphaned by the APC on whose platform he had served his initial term, he ran to the likes of former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who accommodated him and handed him a party ticket that seemed to be heading to former House of Representatives member, Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama.

    Denying Obaseki the APC gubernatorial ticket in 2020 split the ruling party. Buhari and the governors wanted him to be the flagbearer. When this didn’t happen, the governors turned their backs on the Adams Oshiomhole-supported Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. They boosted their colleague financially and morally away from public scrutiny. It was so bad that the party couldn’t hold its grand finale rally due to the coldness of the governors. The result was the comprehensive defeat of the APC slate.

    Unfortunately, in less than four years, Obaseki’s desperate need for control saw him scattering the intricate coalition that sustained him in power. He was a one-man wrecking ball.

    He quickly fell out with Wike and his supporters in the so-called Legacy Group of Edo PDP led by Chief Dan Orbih. This group also included Ogbeide-Ihama who had sacrificed a ticket that was virtually his. The governor humiliated and hounded his erstwhile deputy, Phillip Shuaibu, out of office because he didn’t want him as his successor. This was the same fellow who betrayed his benefactor Oshiomhole to join forces with those who secured the governor a second tenure.

    Anyone who knows anything about the Binis knows how much they revere the Oba of Benin. Constitutionally, the governor may have the whip hand over the monarch, but many a politician has learnt the hard way that crossing the palace is a one-way ticket into the power wilderness. But Obaseki would have none of that – as he engaged the Oba in a well publicized public dispute over custodianship of returned artifacts.

    By election time last weekend, the governor had managed to assemble and unite a stellar cast of formal and informal opposition whose common interest was defeating him, and everything he represented. Even Oshiomhole who had failed in his bid to install his choice as APC candidate, ate humble pie and fell in line, just for the sweet pleasure of seeing his upstart godson fall. Little wonder the rally cry of the governor’s foes was ‘Ofonee’, – ‘It is finished’ in local parlance.

    Obaseki was not a candidate in the election but it was really all about him. He ensured the party picked his preferred candidate, Asue Ighodalo, much to the bitterness of local politicians who felt they were more qualified and had better pedigree to win an election in Edo.

    It wasn’t as if Ighodalo was a bad man. If anything, his profile was such that any party would have been glad to have him under different circumstances. He is a well-heeled corporate lawyer and boardroom titan. But his very identification with the governor became his undoing. In the course of trying to woo back disaffected PDP members he was told bluntly that they had no issues with him but the person behind him.

    The election has been won and lost fairly – never mind the standard noise. A united opposition could have made it a referendum about 17 months of Tinubu’s administration, instead the APC successfully turned it into one about Obaseki’s divisive eight-year rule. He wasn’t on the ticket yet his shadow loomed so large over the real candidate such that those who would vote, could not because of Ighodalo’s qualities overlook the outgoing governor’s sins. They had become joined at the hip.

    This election may not have been perfect but it is a marked improvement on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) efforts in recent years. Last year, so much mischief was made of the commission’s failure to post results seamlessly on iREV. By 11.00pm last Saturday over 97% of results had been put up for viewing. Less than 24 hours after, a winner was announced.

    This was a poll over which not one person has been reported killed! As far as Nigerian elections go that’s just amazing. There might have been the usual logistics delays in places but these things happen.

    INEC is always a convenient scapegoat, one to be blamed by diabolical politicians. But it is perhaps time to turn the spotlight in the right direction. Those who buy votes or send thugs to snatch election materials or just wreak havoc, are politicians. It doesn’t matter if the best arrangements are made, they would always find a way to discredit the process. Perhaps, it dulls the pain of losing somewhat for them. Imagine for one moment if the outcome had favoured them. The supposedly abysmal performance of the poll organizers would have been swiftly ignored. Such revolting hypocrisy!

  • APC victory in Edo, vote of confidence on Tinubu’s administration, says group

    APC victory in Edo, vote of confidence on Tinubu’s administration, says group

    The Coalition of Nigerian Youth Leaders (CONYL) has attributed the All Progressives Congress (APC) victory in the Edo State governorship election to the public’s trust in President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

    The group disclosed this following the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) announcement of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the governor-elect.

    As an umbrella organization representing youth groups from all six geopolitical zones, CONYL congratulated both the governor-elect and the APC.

    The coalition’s statement was released on Tuesday, signed by its President General, Comrade Goodluck Ibem, and shared with reporters in Awka.

    “The victory of Senator Okpebholo and APC in the just concluded Edo State governorship election wherein he emerged the winner, is a ” Vote of Confidence” by the good people of Edo State on the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who have shown capacity to lead the nation out of the woods.

    “The love and solidarity of the Edo people for the APC candidate Okpebholo was indeed overwhelming which is a sign that the Edo people are fully prepared and ready to move to the next level of leadership and governance.

    “Edo people showed that they were tired of grammar but needed performance and people-oriented leadership where the interest of the people is paramount.

    “Of the truth, Okpebholo will take the step of the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio to transform Edo State the same way Senator Akpabio transformed Akwa Ibom State when he was Governor which gave him the name as the uncommon performer.

    “We appreciate the leadership of the APC, ably led by Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje who ensured that his party played by the rules and regulations guiding the election.

    “Ganduje is truly a great and rare leader with extraordinary leadership qualities. He has proved his mettle in the Edo State elections as a performer.

    “Senator Adams Oshiohmole showed that he is a true democrat who maintains his mantra in practice of one man, one vote. The elections truly met the requirements of any known international standard in elections.

    Read Also: Akpabio urges Edo governor-elect, Okpebholo, to be magnanimous in victory

    “We commend Edo people who came out en masse to cast their votes for their preferred candidates and we urge other states to emulate them.

    “We thank the Commander-in-Chief and the President of the Armed Forces, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for providing a level playing field for all contestants in the election.

    “We appreciate the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun who provided security for voters and maintained neutrality while the elections lasted. The election was indeed peaceful.

    “We therefore urge other contestants in the election to support the governor-elect Senator Monday Okpebholo for the growth and development of Edo State,” CONYL wrote.

  • A crumbed succession plan in Edo

    A crumbed succession plan in Edo

    Power has shifted in Edo State, following the outcome of the governorship poll held in 18 local governments. 

    The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Monday Okpebholo, defeated his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival, Dr. Asue Ighodalo. Deputy Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the implication of the crumbled succession plan for Governor Godwin Obaseki and his party.

    Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki had a plan to instal a successor. He actually worked hard to achieve a targeted result. But yesterday, the dream paled into day dreaming.

    At the close of governorship poll,  reality stared at the embattled chief executive and his co-travellers in Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the face. Despite the bravado, they had laboured in vain.

    The election has been won and lost. In three months, Senator Monday Okpebholo of All Progressives Congress (APC), and not Dr. Asue Ighodalo of PDP, will be the new chief tenant in Osadebey House, Benin-city.

    Power is transient and no condition is permanent.

    It is a turning point in the state. Six years after losing power, following the internal contradiction in the party, APC has mustered the strength to bounce back.

    Instructively, the forces that brought the governor to power eight years ago aborted his plan to make his anointed candidate governor.

    To analysts, the result of the poll was a referendum on the performance of the Obaseki administration. It  translated into an endorsement of power shift. It was the end of an era in the state.

    The campaign was hot. On both sides, candidates and their godfathers, Obaseki and Adams Oshiomhole, never left anything to chances. 

    During the campaigns, people trooped out to receive the flagbearers. The burden was on the governor to explain his push for continuity of  PDP government in Edo.

    Apprently, Obaseki saw defeat coming. The handwriting was bold on the wall. Perhaps, he could not read it from afar. The political danger was looming, but he could not avert it. After he refused to sign the peace accord, he also cried foul, alleging plans by the APC to rig. 

    The power of incumbency had crumbled.

    It was a keenly contested election. Both candidates, Okpebholo and Ighodalo from Edo Central District are eminently qualified to govern the state. 

    The only difference is that certain circumstances made the pendulum of victory to swing more towards APC’s direction. The lesson is that party leaders have to put their house in order, anticipate the intervening variables and work ahead to mitigate their effects on the ballot box.

    It was obvious APC was better prepared, although it was not a walk over. As opposition leader, it was more focused and more united unlike PDP. Indeed, APC quickly ovecame the initial crisis unleashed by its rancorous primary. 

    Also, the party opted for genuine reconciliation as underscored by the equitable sharing formula. The Okpebholo/Idahosa ticket was the outcome of the truce. After that, the party started to work hard to displace the PDP.

    However, the strength of Edo PDP only laid in its power of incumbency. As the ruling party, it had enough resources at its disposal to prosecute Obaseki’s succession plan. But there was disputation. Many chieftains who were aggrieved never believed that Ighodalo was a collecive candidate.

    Why APC settled for a home-grown candidate, Okpebholo, who is a Edo Central senator, Ighodalo, to some PDP stalwarts, was imposed by the governor. The aggrieved PDP chieftains, led by Dan Orbih, distanced themselves from the succession projects. Reconciliation failed in the party.

    Also, defections from PDP to APC meant that the defectors have, to some extent, split the votes. Only few ruling parties actually have the chance of winning, following a split, ahead of critical elections.

    The APC governors of the two contiguous states of Ondo and Kogi lent their hands of support to the Edo APC chapter. Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa stormed the state to mobilise the voting population in Yoruba-speaking areas in the North District. 

    More importantly, his Kogi counterpart, Usman Ododo leaned on cultural affinity of a section of his Kogites to appeal to those communities sharing boundaries with his state to vote for APC. For example, Ododo stormed Etuno, capital of Akoko-Edo,to campaign. He elicited a promise from the people to vote for Okpebholo. 

    The mobilisation approach yielded political capital. Obaseki’s deputy, Godwin Omobayo, could not resist the APC arsenal.

    In the North District made up of six local governments, APC won. It was trailed by PDP. The Labour Party (LP) which fielded Olumide Akpata, former president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), was lost in the crowd.

    Contrary to predictions in some quarters, APC won Egon. The people have been complaining about infrastructural deficit. They had cried out that the area was neglected by the state government.

    In Orhionmwon, where the people have frowned at the way government acquired some lands, there was protest vote. Two APC leaders, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and Dr. Pius Odubu, who already had an axe to grind with Obaseki, were at work.

    However, in the Central District, PDP checkmated APC. 

    Ighodalo won three of the five local governments; APC won two. The implication is that despite being the current senator from the district, PDP is currently more popular than APC in the district. 

    The two APC dominated councils are Esan Central (with headquarters at Irua) and Esan West (with headquarters at Ekpoma). But the son of the soil, Ighodalo, won Uromi.

    The impact of zoning or rotation was felt in the Edo election, particularly in the Central District. In their wisdom, the two parties zoned their tickets to the district. LP was insensitive to zoning, thereby fielding a candidate from the South to succeed Obaseki, who is from the zone, after his two terms of eight years.

    Predictably, the South District was the battle ground and the ultimate decider.  Besides showing real dominance in the North, APC made inroad into the South. It did not win Ovia, birthplace of Dennis Idahosa, House of Representatives member and running mate to Okpebholo.

    But it won won Oredo where the defectors, including Senator Matthew Urhoghide, director-general of APC Campaign Council, and Ogbade Ihama, changed the tide.

    In certain parts of Yorubaland, particularly Benin, the traditional institution, despite its neutrality, has remained a powerful factor in political calculations.

    What are the lessons of the poll? Observers contend that Ighodalo was a good candidate, who nevertheless, failed to win. It was evident that people voted against Obaseki.

     Ighodalo was with Oshiomhole for eight years as a Special adviser on Economic Development. During that time Obaseki was Special Adviser on Taxation. People thought, upon reflection, that Oshiomhole should have made Asue to succeed him. When Oshiomhole wanted Obaseki to succeed him, he was told that Obaseki’s grandfather allegedly betrayed Oba of Benin. Oshiomhole said that was in the past. The rest is history.

    Asue has a big stature in the financial sector. Hd is sound. It is a great feat to become the NBL, Iganmu Chairman. He was the best candidate in the race, judging by his antecedents. 

    But, Obaseki had made a lot of political enemies. They teamed up to work against his candidate. Working in concert with Oshiomhole agains the PDP were Abuja minister Nyesom Wike, Deputy Governor Phillip Shaibu, an Orbih. 

    Also,  Lagos boys, led by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had an axe to grind with the Edo governor. Obaseki who made it in Lagos started made the jest of Lagos that Edo is not Lagos and that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu went back to Lagos empty handed after PDP defeated APC in Edo four years ago.

    Supporters of Anselem Ojezua, erstwhile APC chairman when Oshiomhole was governor, who led APC executives with Obaseki to the Legacy PDP, complained that he and the group were later rendered them redundant.

    The PDP Speaker of the House of Assembly,Kabiru Adjoto, who wanted to succeed Shaibu as the Deputy Governor, was also annoyed.

    Obaseki opened battles on many fronts. 

    What next after the poll? The two parties will do a post-mortem. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will also study and review its procedures to avoid late coming of polling staff to polling units in subsequent elections.

    The election monitors and observers will turn in their reports in aid of future polls.

    Those rounded off by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged vote-buying may be prosecuted, after a thorough investigation.

    Read Also: Edo Election: The drama, surprises of a poll

     If the PDP accepts its fate, it would return to the drawing board to restrategise ahead of future polls. If not, the results would be tested at the tribunal to ascertain its substantial compliance with the constitution and Electoral Act.

    As power slipped from Edo PDP, the party will be left in the cold for four years. Party leaders will begin to lick their wounds. They may regress into a blame game.

    But, the next critical assignment for the party is to re-examine itself to see where it made costly mistakes. The party has to brace for the role of an opposition. Its leaders require adjustment into the new role.

    Also, for the party to survive, there is need for its aggrieved and warring leaders to embrace reconciliation, forgive one another and chart a new course for the future. 

  • Yiaga Africa commends peaceful Edo Gov poll

    Yiaga Africa commends peaceful Edo Gov poll

    Yiaga Africa, one of the domestic election observers monitoring the governorship election in Edo State, has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agents for the peaceful conduct of the exercise.

    In its midday preliminary report by its Executive Director, Samson Itodo and Chair of the 2024 Edo Election Mission, Dr. Aisha Abdullahi, Yiaga said that despite a tense political climate, the election began peacefully with minimal critical incidents, adding that however that logistical challenges caused delays in the commencement of accreditation and voting in several polling units.

    The group said: “As predicted in Yiaga Africa’s pre-election statement, late openings were attributed to logistical issues and poor weather conditions, such as rainfall. Voters patiently waited to cast their votes despite these delays. The lack of vehicles to transport adhoc officials and election materials, and the absence of security personnel to accompany them, further contributed to the delays.

    “Although most polling units observed had the presence of security agencies, Yiaga Africa observed an uneven distribution of security personnel, resulting in some densely populated polling units having limited security presence.

    It expressed concern over reports of alleged intimidation of INEC officials to bypass the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in Akoko-Edo LGA, missing results sheets in Polling Unit 1 in Ward 8, Orhionmwon LGA, and disruptions caused by political thugs chasing voters from Polling Unit 5 in Uwessan Ward 2, Esan Central LGA, adding that these infractions risk voter suppression and election manipulation. Yiaga Africa calls on INEC to strictly enforce its guidelines and to resist any pressure to deviate from the electoral legal framework.

    It commended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and security agencies for their swift action in arresting suspected vote-buyers at polling units in Egor and Oredo LGAs, adding the commission should extend its operations to other LGAs where votes are being traded for N10,000 per voter even in the presence of security personnel.

    It also commended the Police for arresting and disarming political thugs with firearms on the eve of the election, contributing to a more secure election day environment.

    Read Also: Edo Election: Obaseki lauds voters’ enthusiasm, security

    Yiaga Africa said its initial findings were based on reports received from 287 of the 300 sampled polling units and processed at 1:30 pm on election day, saying additional information and updates will be provided subsequently.

    It said: “Arrival of INEC officials and commencement of polls: In the polling units observed, Yiaga Africa noted a slow start to the voting process, with INEC officials arriving in only 43% of polling units by 7:30 a.m.

    “The geographical breakdown shows that in 69% of polling units in Edo North, 35% in Edo Central, and 56% in Edo South, INEC officials did not arrive by 7:30 a.m. By 8:30 a.m., only 17% of the polling units had opened for accreditation and voting, while by 9:30 a.m., 65% had commenced the voting process.

    “Yiaga Africa observed and noted adequate deployment of election materials like register of voters, voting cubicle, official stamp, Ink pad, and indelible ink, in the opened polling units observed.  Yiaga Africa also noted the deployment of assistive materials for persons with disability, with Magnifying glasses deployed in only 27% of the polling unit, braille ballot guide in 38% of polling units and PWD posters in 84% of polling units.

    “Yiaga Africa observed that every polling unit had a BVAS deployed. Additionally, Yiaga Africa noted that 6% of the polling units had two or more BVAS devices deployed. However, in 2% of polling units, the BVAS accreditation count was not shown to voters to confirm that it was set to zero before the start of accreditation and voting”.

    On the deployment of party agents, it said the “All Progressives Congress (APC) party agents were sighted at 98% of polling units, Labour Party (LP) agents were in 77% of polling Units, and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) agents were in 99% of polling units, while Security agents were seen in 95% of polling units.”

    It said further that the BVAS malfunctioned in Ayogwiri Town Hall, Ayogwiri Polling Unit, of Uzairure South East ward in Etsako West LGA with voting not starting at the polling unit as at 1pm.

    It said further that voters halted the accreditation and process in the Ikpoba—Army Children XI polling unit (12-11-01-011) in Iwogban/Uteh Ward, Ikpoba/Okha LGA because INEC officials arrived without the official stamp, while at Ebua Market Square in Uhunwode LGA, an altercation between APC and PDP supporters over alleged bribery led to the suspension of voting and the destruction of the voting cubicle.

    It alleged that political thugs also disrupted voting at Anyaran Araromi Primary School in Akoko Edo LGA with alleged incidents of vote buying in Ikpoba/Okha, Igueben, Esan West, Akoko Edo, Owan West and Uhunmode LGAs. 

  • Voting commences in Shaibu polling unit

    Voting commences in Shaibu polling unit

    Voting commenced around 12:30 at the Unit five Ward 11 in Estako West Local Government Area of Edo State because of the failure of BVAS.

    Reinstated Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu voted after the BVAS began working.

    Voters at the polling unit waited for over four hours after accreditation.

    A canopy was provided where the voters could wait.

    Many of the voters cried foul play for the failure of BVAS at the polling unit where Shiabu cast his vote.

    Shaibu, who spoke before the BVAS was rectified,  said the polling unit has the highest number of voters.

     “We have to calm them down. We have to go and get a canopy where the people can wait.

    Read Also: PDP’s Ighodalo seeks level-playing field, decries alleged supporters’ arrest

    “Over 2000 voters will be disenfranchised if the BVAS did jot work. I don’t want to give it a name yet. Maybe it is a technology failure.They have assured us that when they fix it they will extend the voting time. The information from other areas of Edo North is good.

    “We have made up our mind not to have an evil Governor, a governor that does not have empathy.”