By Okadigbo Austin

Esan North East/Esan South East Fed Constituency is a Federal Constituency in Edo Central Senatorial District. It’s one of the two Fed Constituencies in the Senatorial District.

This Senatorial district is regarded as the strong hold of PDP in Edo state as a result of the calibre of leaders it parades, some of whom are former BOT Chairman of PDP Chief Tony Anenih, former Minister of works Arc Mike Onolemenmen, Sen Odion Ugbesia, Chief Dr Francis Ulinfoh, Sen Clifford Ordia, and a host of other notable leaders.

It took Oshiomhole a great deal before he was able to make inroads into the Senatorial district forcing many leaders on compulsory political retirement.

Esan North East/Esan South East is currently being represented by Hon Sergius Ogun in Fed House of Rep. Apart from the fact that he is perceived to have performed, it’s also the tradition of PDP to always return their elected officials for a second term. Going by this it’s certain and sure that PDP will feed Hon Sergius Ogun for a second term in 2019.

Hon Sergius is loved by his party leaders and his immediate constituency to an extent. He is seen as a good man who is different from the regular politicians this Fed constituency has paraded over time. His philanthropic disposition has also endeared the heart of the people towards him. Therefore it’s going to be a hard nut to crack for anyone in APC who will want to wrestle power from Hon Sergius.

However it is not an impossible mission or task for APC to dislodge Hon Sergius in 2019 if they are proactive, calculative, and tactical. Looking at history and voting strength in this Fed constituency, and if APC is sincere in their primaries without unproductive sentiment, Ogun will roundly be defeated come 2019. APC picking their candidate form Esan South East LG where Ogun hails from will be counter productive because Ogun will readily defeat anyone from this axis irrespective of party affiliation and then get the bulk votes from Esan North East the LG of Chief Tony Anenih and Arc Mike Onolemenmen. If APC must pick from the same LG as Ogun, he must be a candidate that has deep roots in Esan North East and that character is seriously lacking in the LG at the moment.

There is a readily available weapon and an Ace that APC can use to dislodge Hon Sergius Ogun if they are sincere. He is Prince Odi Okojie from Uromi, Esan North East LG. Just like Hon Sergius, he is also a philanthropist who overtime have empowered youths, women and the age in the LG. He is loved by old and young, especially the youths. He is always seen as the face of youths in that constituency. If given the ticket, he will no doubt give Hon Sergius a run for his money. If there is anyone today that Sergius Ogun will want to avoid in the 2019 contest, it’s Prince Odi Okojie. Many of the leaders actually know this if indeed thay want to be sincere. Prince Odi Okojie has so many things that will work for him in the elections and subsequent victory for APC.

Prince Odi Okojie is from a royal family in Uromi Esan North East LG. He is a cousin to the Onojie, the Ojuromi of Uromi, His Royal Majesty Anslem Okojie and APC leader Hon Prince Joe Okojie who was immediate past Commissioner and presently special adviser to Gov Obaseki. Esan North East is the largest LG with the highest Votes. Apart from the fact that Prince Okojie is loved by his people, the Uromis doesn’t abandon their own in any contest or battle. They have this history or trait of rallying round their own in elections irrespective of political affiliations. This will no doubt swing the votes from this axis for APC and Okojie. He is also going to get sympathy votes from this LG because of what many believe was an injustice done to him by the PDP when he lobbied for the Dep Gov slot in the last Gov election in the state. Being in APC now, he also has the capacity to pull a substantial amount of votes from the PDP in the LG. It is believed that as his former party, many of the leaders love him and were not happy with the way he was treated before he eventually defected to APC. It was reported that till date, many leaders in PDP are still making frantic effort to bring him back to the party. It is near impossible for the Uromis to abandon their own on election day and vote an outsider.

All the youths in this constituency will naturally sway to Okojie because of his youths empowerment programs across the two LGs. He himself is a youth and this will solve the yearnings and agitations of so many youths in the area who constantly cry for youth inclusiveness in governance.   He is highly love by the youths, a factor which will swing bulk votes to him and APC.

The wife who is a renowned and veteran actor, a Nollywood star, Mercy Johnson Okojie also commands great respect in the constituency. She is love across the LGs, especially by women. She will be able to pull the women out to vote for her husband and the APC. She also has a foundation with which she empower women annually. She is highly attracted to the women because of her ability to speak their language fluently even though she is not from Esan.

Austin  is resident in Ekpoma