By Gideon Obhakhan

Today, I sit in my humble abode to reflect on the heated political atmosphere in Edo State.

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki

I am asking myself this question: If I were Mr. Godwin Obaseki, what would I do under this circumstance?

I am aware he was in the corporate world for many years and was a major stakeholder in a stockbroking firm called Afrinvest, which stands out conspicuously in his Curriculum Vitae.

I also know that as Special Adviser on Economic Affairs to former Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, he was the Head of the Economic Team. Fast forward to the year 2016 when Obaseki showed interest in vying for the position of the exalted office of the governor of Edo State.

As an aspirant at the time, he was naturally supposed to be the least favoured to win as all odds were against him.

However, against all odds, he became the party’s candidate through the help of the then governor of Edo State, Oshiomhole.

I was particularly happy about this feat that was achieved, not only because I was a serving Commissioner for Education at the time, but because I was an active member of the inner caucus of the electioneering campaign team.

Having won the elections, when it was time for the governor to set up his cabinet and also make other appointments which include Special Assistants, Executive Directors, and Senior Special Assistants among others, I was a witness to all that happened.

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Obaseki assured the people of Edo State, especially members of our party, the All Progressives Congress, APC that he was going to employ ingenious methods of saving money and be very creative in dealing with issues of administration and party politics.

To achieve that, Obaseki said he may not necessarily have to follow the prevailing philosophies of appointments, which to him were largely wasteful, adding that they didn’t prioritise meritocracy but encouraged nepotism.

Obaseki said he would not appoint Executive Directors, adding that he would only appoint Special Assistants, Special Advisers, and Commissioners.

In addition, the governor said he was going to reduce the total number of appointees.

To make that possible, he released conditions that potential candidates for such positions must meet before they can be appointed. Key amongst those guidelines was the fact that he was never going to reward failure and as such, only the people who were able to win the previous governorship election in their electoral units, wards and local government areas would be given appointments.

This was applauded by many including party executives, who were charged with the responsibility of enforcing the guidelines.

Apart from keeping to his words as regards adhering strictly to the guidelines, he also decided to distance himself from party politics so that he can focus on the business of governance.

Unfortunately, and may be due to his poor experience in politics he couldn’t really manage the emotions of the party members, especially the leaders of the party who maintain the party structure and keep the heartbeat of the party alive.

He allegedly sidelined them and made statements at different times and on several occasions, which suggested that he was going to continue to alienate members of the party.

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The leaders felt his stance was capable of destroying the party and may eventually lead to the defeat of APC by the opposition party in future elections. This valid concern recently gave birth to a pressure group called Edo Peoples Movement within the state chapter of APC.

The agenda of the group is to strengthen the party for future elections and shop for a credible replacement for Obaseki in 2020.

The group has since held some meetings which led to a sharp division between those loyal to the governor and those opposed to his second term ambition.

The disagreement is wrongly being described as a fight between Oshiomhole and Obaseki.

It is worthy to note quickly that I have no records of any statement credited to the APC National Chairman as far as the ongoing feud between Edo Peoples Movement and the governor of Edo State is concerned.

However, with the recent happenings and the support that Edo Peoples Movement has garnered, it is becoming clear that the governor may likely not get a second term ticket.

This became evident when 19 out of the 24 House of Assembly members-elect, who are opposed to the governor’s choice of Speaker, recently addressed a press conference on June 17, 2019, urging Obaseki to issue a letter of proclamation to the Clerk of Edo State House of Assembly for their inauguration. The press conference apparently triggered the seeming desperation on the part of the governor and his supporters, culminating in the nocturnal inauguration of nine out the 24 members-elect, with three of them coming out to denounce their participation and alleging that they were sworn in under duress.

The videos of the confessions of the affected House of Assembly members-elect have gone viral on the internet.Another major is the fact that in the last presidential election, Obaseki lost his Ward, Local Government Area, Federal Constituency, and Senatorial District to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

*Obhakhan, a former Commissioner for Education, Edo State, writes from Benin City