By Simon Ebegbulem –
The emergence of the former Minister of State for Defense, Arch.Mike Onolemenmen as the Minister nominee from Edo state is causing serious crisis in the Edo state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), even when the party was already factionalized between those loyal to the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party, Chief Tony Anenih and those loyal to the two- time Governor of the defunct Bendel State, Dr Samuel Ogbemudia.

Prior to this incident, the party suffered a devastating defeat in the hands of the Adams Oshiomhole-led Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the just concluded general elections. As a result of this, a lot of the party members were hoping that the minister that would be picked from the state will bring a fresh air that will give the party the boost it needed ahead the 2012 governorship election.

Ten names were sent to the leadership of the party for consideration. In Edo South, former Minister of Defense, Gen.Godwin Abbe, former Deputy Governor of the state, Mr Lucky Imasuen, former Commissioner for Environment, Sarah Adetugbogbo and Pharmacist Mathew Urhohide were submitted. And in Edo Central, we have Arch.Mike Onolemenmen, Giwa Agbonmenrele and Clifford Ordia.

In Edo North, the names of the former Special Adviser to the President on Project Monitoring, Prof.Julius Ihonvbere, State chairman of the party, Chief Dan Orbih and Mrs Inu-Umoru were submitted. However, the leadership of the party met and it was learnt that they decided to zone the governorship seat to Edo South district, which is the largest zone in the state. So, the onus now lied on the Central, where Chief Anenih hails from and Edo North to produce the Minister.

And because of the quality of credentials being paraded by these nominees, a lot of people in the state tipped Prof.Ihonvbere for the appointment. But it was shocking to most of the party members that it was the name of Onolemenmen who is known to be a blood relation of Chief Anenih that was anointed. In an advertorial published in Vanguard last Wednesday, by a group known as the Edo South Peoples Assembly (ESPA), the group opined that Onolemenmen and Chief Anenih are from the same maternal great grand father.

But another group under the aegis of the Edo PDP Coalition, debunked the claim, querying how the duo could be said to be related when Chief Anenih is from Arue while Onolemenmen is from Ivue, all in Uromi, Esan North East Local Government Council of the state.

Anenih and Jonathan

However, Edo South Peoples Assembly dismissed that connotation and queried, “does that mean they cannot be bloodly related even when the two quarters share a common boundary and the two quarters are known to inter-marry? Chief Tony Anehih and Arch. Mike Onolememen are of the same maternal great grandfather”.

However, there was protest in the three senatorial districts of the state by PDP members over the nomination of Arch.Onolemenmen as Minister nominee for the state. The grouse of those who protested in Edo Central where Chief Anenih and Onolemenmen hail from, was that it would be unfair for Uromi to produce the Chairman Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), which is currently being held by Chief Anenih and a Minister.

They argued that the Ministerial position should have gone to another area and not Uromi. And loyalists of Chief Anenih in Edo South senatorial district are kicking that the name of Mrs Adetugbogbo is being tipped for a juicy appointment above some leaders of the party such as Mr Lucky Imasuen who was the state Campaign Coordinator for Goodluck/Sambo Presidential campaign in the state, Mathew Iduoriyekenwen, Gen Godwin Abbe and Pharm.Mathew Urhohide. Some of the party leaders accused Chief Anenih of a plot to empower Adetugbogbo who also is his in-law.

Mrs. Sarah Adetugbogbo is a maternal sister to the wife of Chief Anenih, whose father hails from Akoko-Edo local Government Area of Edo State, though Adetugbogbou’s father is from the Benin extraction. However, a leader of the party in Edo South,Owere Dickson-Imasogie debunked the reports that it was Chief Anenih that submitted the name of Mrs Adetugbogbou and clarified that it was the leadership of the party in the district that submitted it.

According to him, “it is not true that it was Chief Anenih who specifically picked Sarah. What happened was that the leadership of the party said we should recommend names and here in Edo South, we recommended the names of Dr. Chris Ogiemwonyi, Mr. Matthew Urhoghide, Mr. Lucky Imasuen and Sarah Adetugbogbou. Meanwhile,in Edo North where Ihonvbere and Orbih hail from, it argued that since the inception of democracy in 1999, the zone is the only area yet to produce a Minister.

Though they acknowledged that they had the Chief of Staff to the President, in the person of Chief Mike Oghiadohme from the area, they also reminded that the position was given to Oghiadohme due to his personal relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan. They argued that it would be unfair to cede the Ministerial position to Edo Central, an area that had produced four Ministers in the past.

Following the angst that greeted the ministerial list and the subsequent announcement of Onolemenmen as Minister from the state, Chief Anenih called a meeting of the leaders of the party last week Wednesday so as to douse the tension in the party. But the leaders of the party in Edo South shunned the meeting, insisting that Chief Anenih should meet with some of the leaders before a meeting of the general house would be convened in order not to wash their dirty linen in public. Consequently, the meeting was rescheduled for last Saturday but his key men in Edo South still did not attend the meeting, which gave the indication that Chief Anenih’s political empire is in the brink of collapse.

In the meeting which however held at the residence of Chief Anenih in GRA Benin City last Saturday, Chief Anenih justified the nomination of Arch.Onolemenmen, after he explained that President Goodluck Jonathan told him in Abuja after he returned from his American trip that he needed more professionals in his new cabinet. A source at the meeting who craved anonymity to Saturday Vanguard, narrated: “he told us that Onolemenmen was nominated because he is a professional.

He said the President said that the list will be submitted on Tuesday to the senate and he has assured us that Onolemenmen will be given the Minister of Works Portfolio. He explained that the President said eight of the former members in the cabinet will be coming back. So, he advised that we should calm down, that he will ensure that positions are distributed equitably”.

But the argument to justify Anenih’s position is that it was only in his senatorial district, Edo central that the PDP won elections in the state. Chief Anenih was able to beat the Oshiomhole forces in the zone and captured two of the House of Representatives seats, five out of the six seats in the state House of Assembly and the senatorial seat. But the feelers from his loyalists indicated more crisis for the PDP in the state ahead the 2012 governorship election as a result of his decision to anoint Onolemenmen.

Majority of the party members in the state had expected that either Ihonvbere or the state chairman of the party, Chief Dan Orbih would have been anointed. Orbih brought back life into the PDP after the sacking of Governor Osarhiemen Osunbor by the Court of Appeal. That of Prof.Ihonvbere was painful because in 2007 PDP governorship primary, he contested against Prof.Osunbor but lost because the leaders of the party led by Chief Anenih had earlier endorsed Osunbor who also received the support of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Prior to the primary, Elder Odion Ugbesia was Anenih’s anointed candidate for the governorship but Obasanjo stopped Ugbesia from picking the governorship ticket. He was said to have preferred Ihonvbere. But Saturday Vanguard learnt that Anenih decided to ensure that Obasanjo’s candidate did not emerge by stressing to the former President that the position was zoned to Edo Central.

The two leaders therefore found a common ground on Prof.Osunbor who is an in-law to Obasanjo. After Osunbor emerged, Ugbesia was compensated with a senatorial seat but Ihonvbere who later worked with Osunbor during the governorship campaign benefited nothing through out that administration. Yet he remained in the party. Saturday Vanguard gathered that his supporters are not happy because of his contributions to the growth of the party in the state but even with his wealth of experience, he remained one of the most marginalized in the politics of the state.

A leader of the PDP in the state who spoke anonymously to Saturday Vanguard, explained that “the truth is that Ihonvbere has the best credentials to be the Minister. But the problem is that Chief Anenih does not forgive politically. You remember that in 2007, Ihonvbere challenged him at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium, when he accused Anenih of openly campaigning for Osunbor even at the time when campaigns were over. So we are aware that the man has vowed to ensure that Ihonvbere does not get anything in PDP. But as you know, he is not God. So, we are watching”.