ON Wednesday, September 28th 2016, most indigenes of Edo state from home and abroad and from all works of life are expected to have  arrived the state  to exercise their civic rights. We are  all expected to vote  into office a new governor who will preside  over the affairs of state, for another four years.

This particular election contrary to the general belief of peopple outside Edo state is neither  about the All Progressive Congress, APC,mouthed performance under Governor Adams Oshiomole  nor about the People Democratic Party’s PDP, lack of performance in the years  past. It is also not about Godwin Obaseki’s acclaimed economic expertise/wizardry; although this is yet to be proved, nor is  it about his presumed ability to hit the  ground running  once  he is  elected  governor. This election is about the soul and the betterment of Edo State. It is also a calculated attempt to reclaim our state from the grips of a political despot.  Available evidence so far, has  shown that out of the two front runners in the forthcoming election Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu is far more prepared as a candidate for the office of Edo State Governor and if given the chance he could turn the fortune of the state around and make Edo state great  again.

The September 28 election is simply a fight to rescue Edo state from the  grip of some persons in the corridor  power in Benin City. From the  moves made so far in Abuja and Benin, Edo people are not unaware that the fight ahead is going to be a tough one. Interestingly, majority of   Edo people are determine to fight for the liberation of our state from the Emperor  Oshiomole.  Majority of the  people have long made up their minds and are prepared to face the odds with a will that know no defeat, using their civic rights as their armour, and the Sword of Truth  as  their weapon.  They are determined to confront the ruling party the APC, Oshiomole and his anointed political son  Obaseki  in a battle of  wits.

For whatever it is worth, majority of the people  are ready to make sure their will prevail no matter the intended APC magic. This determination has unsettled the Edo State APC as they already smell defeat. They know they  migh t lose Edo state  to PDP.  As to be expected, all manner of reasons have  so far  been adduced by the APC propaganda machines, as the party perfects it plans to rig the forthcoming governorship election. Already in the public domain, are some of the decisions reached in the all night meeting of September 13, 2016.  At  that  same  meeting, the intimidating tactics to be deployed by APC on that day were said to have been perfected. The postponement of the election from 10th to 28th September therefore, was one of the final moves to solidify arrangements for this shameful act of election rigging.The  resentful anger that followed INEC’s decision to shift the date of the election was not only carried out  in bad faith. The outrage that followed was an indication that all is not yet well with our polity.

Observers have begun, justifiably, impute some ulterior, less than noble motives to the security report which they believe is a farce. The thesis goes that it is the APC Federal Government that is attempting to use the concocted security report as subterfuge to postpone the ‘evil day of the polls. That if elections are held as scheduled, APC feared it would lose the state to PDP.”

In the same vain, Dr. Sylvester Odion Ahaine a political science lecturer at the Lagos State University, react thus to the postponement “I have seized up the political situation in Edo state and extremely worried that democracy in Nigeria is heading for the rock. Therefore, I wish to make the following remarks:- That the optimism of the Nigerian people has kept Nigerian democracy alive despite its asphyxiation by self-serving political elite. That the Edo people should be given the unhindered opportunity to express their franchise and choose from among those vying for their mandate.That on the question of who governs the state, the Edo people retain the veto”.

Hear lies the crux of the matter. The right of the people to choose whosoever governs them is what Oshiomole deliberately wants to remove. Now that Oshiomole has done his bit and he is about to leave office after eight years, must he impose a candidate on the Edo people willy-nilly, in the name of continuity? Especially now, that the principles upon which Edo state was created have been eroded by his administration’s tactical moves.

For the benefits of those  who are not too familiar with the principles that led to the creation of Edo state, the state was created in order to unify the various elements of communities, to crystalise the natural aspirations of our people, to express in concrete form the trend of public opinion, and to emancipate our states from the manacles of political bondage. If one may ask, how far, did Oshiomole’s government helped in the realisation of these aims and objectives? The political, cultural and other tribal gulfs that today exist between the Estako, Esan and the Binis more than  ever before are there for all to see. The details of this matter are already in the public domain. Suffice to observe that, at this critical period of our national humiliation due to the poor handling of the nation’s economy by the APC government at the centre, the determination of the Edo people’s to obtain victory in the September 28th election is barricaded by enemies without and within. Happily, the Edo people have also resolve, to ensure that victory at the polls is attained come September 28th.

The policy of the out going government  in Edo state is a reliable index of the prospects for the future if an  APC candidate retains power. Must we continue in this  unprofitable way? I say “NO”. I say without equivocation that such policy has been formulated in accordance with the logic of imperialism, buttressed by a false belief about the  incapacity of our people to develop  initiative. Now is the time to give another person the opportunity to redirect the affairs of our state. I will be in Edo state to vote, I therefore urged all well-meaning indigenes of the state to come out enmasse and vote and defend their votes no matter the intimidation. The days of political brigand are over for good. Edo state is ours.

Gabriel Omonhinmin a polical analyst, wrote from Benin City, Edo State