By Gabriel Enogholase

Obviously, the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium was the natural choice of venue for the governorship primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In choosing the stadium, the party kept faith with tradition as the place had played host to such activities in the past. Members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had completed their governorship primaries inside the football pitch only 24 hours earlier.  With about three courts collapsed into a stage to accommodate about 750 delegates and other stakeholders, the venue proved to be a smart choice.

Ize-Iyamu

The Congress started with accreditation of delegates, a task that was decentralized to save time. The process, which was supervised by officials of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) was done at three centres in Benin, namely Emporium Hall for Edo North delegates, Edo State secretariat of the PDP for Edo Central delegates and Okada House for Edo South delegates.

As early as 9:00 a.m, the process had started and by 12 noon the delegates had started trooping to the stadium. Ebonyi State governor, Mr. Dave Umahi, who was the chairman of the election committee, raised the curtains with his remarks.

The governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, who was also present, gave a brief remark. Umahi commended the conduct of the accreditation exercise, informing everyone present that the only mandate given to his committee was to conduct a free and fair primary election.

Okowa in his goodwill message assured that he would always be with the Edo PDP at all times, urging them not to capitulate in the face of intimidation by the ruling party. Unlike in the past, the exercise was done in two hours to the admiration of the attendees. Voting commenced at 1:45 p.m while sorting of votes ended at about 3:45 pm. Results were declared immediately. A former governorship candidate in Lagos State Mr. Jimi Agbaje at the end announced Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu as the winner.

He garnered 584 votes, representing about 82 percent of valid votes, defeating Mr. Matthew Uduoriyekemwen, who scored 91 votes and Chief Solomon Edebiri, who polled 38 votes. Though the show was a day for Ize-Iyamu, Edo State chairman of the PDP, Mr. Dan Orbih, was generally commended for the peace in Edo PDP. Speaking in that regard, Gombe State governor,   Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo said: “I congratulate the very good people of Edo State for this wonderful exercise, I have never seen an election so transparent.

There was no invalid vote in this exercise, and I hereby call on our party men and women to support whoever is declared the winner of the primaries.” On his part, Okowa said:   “I thank God that I witnessed this primary today, and we promised our brothers in the race that we are going to conduct a free and fair primary, and I believe that is what we have done today. For our people and me in Delta State, we promise our support; we promise our prayers. We will be on your campaign grounds, and I want to congratulate you ahead of time because I know that with what we see today, the oneness in us, we will win the election.”

Umahi commended Orbih, the governorship aspirants, their agents and for the successful conduct of the primaries. He added that in every process of the primaries, they were all carried along just as he thanked the governors of Gombe, Delta and Rivers states for their support during the exercise. He pleaded with the aspirants and their supporters to work with whoever emerged as the winner.

In his acceptance speech, Ize-Iyamu commended the leaders and other party members for lifting the PDP up at a very critical time. He noted that the PDP under Orbih was able to expose the alleged corrupt practices of the state government. Also, Ize-Iyamu noted that the state chapter of the PDP is deepening democracy, adding that Orbih never went out to campaign with any of the aspirants.

How Ize-Iyamu won

For those, who had keenly observed the gubernatorial race in the PDP, Ize-Iyamu’s victory did not come as a surprise. When the former South-south Vice-Chairman of the now defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) defected in 2014 from the PDP, there was a political tremor in Edo State. The reason was that four lawmakers of the ruling APC defected with him, thereby increasing the number of PDP lawmakers in the House of Assembly from five to nine.

The APC had alleged that the PDP lawmakers wanted to impeach Oshiomhole and an impasse between the APC and PDP lawmakers followed.   With the array and calibre of politicians backing Ize-Iyamu, many argued that he actually got the ticket before the primaries. Drawn from the three senatorial districts, his supporters included but were not limited to the following; Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, Senator Yisa Braimah, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, former Governor Lucky Igbinedion and Prince Tony Omoaghe. Ize-Iyamu’s preparation for the exercise also outshined others.

He is reputed as the only politician in the state with a house dedicated to politicking. The building otherwise called Ize-Iyamu Campaign Office had long existed years before the race to occupy Edo State Government House started. That was why many believed that Ize-Iyamu was already looking ahead of the primaries to the general election even before the primary.

Even more, many PDP chieftains had over time convinced themselves of the fact that if they must takeover the government from the APC that Ize-Iyamu was the most credible and entrenched person to lead the onslaught and hence it was not difficult that many party chieftains supported him.