By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

The late president’s legacy for straight talking is revisited after the revelation of his alleged assistance in unseating his own political party in Edo State.

The intrigues that heralded the judicial proclamation of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as winner of the 2007 gubernatorial elections had for long been buried. Now thanks to the veteran labour leader turned politician a little of the mystery is unfolding.

Speaking at the launch of a book on the Yar‘Adua years written by Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi last week, Oshiomhole narrated briefly how the late President allegedly funded his battle to wrest power from the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP which had been proclaimed as winner of the Edo State gubernatorial election in 2007.

“He called me and said Adams, ‘your own candidature for governorship is not a party matter, I recognise that under the law there is no such thing as independent candidate if not even if you contest election in Katsina, you have enough followers there. So I am going to give you support and he gave me generous financial support for my campaign,” Oshiomhole said last Tuesday.

Continuing his revelation, the comrade governor said:

“When I lost as I said he encouraged me to fight on, he again gave me support to contribute to my legal case in court. Now I see that as those qualities that he was looking at people not for their party affiliation but for who they are and he was ready to quietly offer his support.”

Comrade Oshiomhole, however, did not give any proof to the allegation a situation that leaves final judgment on the issue for posterity unless other actors come up with alternative views.

Gov Oshiomhole and Late President Yar' Adua

What is best remembered about the relationship between Oshiomhole and the PDP during the struggle to reclaim the mandate was the seeming suspicious relationship between Oshiomhole and some figures in the PDP, notably Chief Tony Anenih.

After the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC declared the PDP’s gubernatorial candidate Prof. Osehreinmen Osunbor as winner of the gubernatorial election and as he, Osunbor settled in government, a crack emerged in his relationship with Chief Anenih who was believed to have been the godfather that facilitated the victory for Osunbor.

As Osunbor fell out with Anenih, Oshiomhole seemingly moved in. When Anenih’s daughter married in Benin in March 2008 Osunbor was conspicuously absent while Oshiomhole made a conspicuous presence.

The presence of Oshiomhole at the wedding and the seeming respect Oshiomhole sought to give Anenih at that time provoked insinuations of a backroom deal between the godfather and the radical comrade on a possible agreement in overcoming the Osunbor problem.

If anyone had an insight into how the PDP snatched victory from Oshiomhole it was believed that Anenih would be the one and hence suggestions that Oshiomhole befriended the godfather for that purpose.

Suggestions of a deal between both men were further raised following allegations that Anenih led some of his close confidants to pop champagne in Government House after the judgment that sacked Osunbor.

Such insinuations have now become buried in the bickering between Oshiomhole and the PDP ahead of the forthcoming gubernatorial elections in Edo State.

Remarkably, Oshiomhole’s revelation in Abuja has been met with a surprising silence by the PDP. While other political parties in the state have taken up the governor on his assertion the normally aggressive PDP machinery in Edo has been numb on the issue. Was the party aware of any such collaboration between the late president Yar‘Adua and Oshiomhole? Emerging from that is another question as to whether Anenih facilitated the alleged relationship between Oshiomhole and Yar‘Adua?

While the PDP has been mum on the issue, some of the minor political parties in the state have taken up the gauntlet.

The Congress for Progressive Change, CPC speaking through its Edo State chairman, Comrade Godwin Erahon in a statement said:

“Since the Governor has started the revelation he should go on to tell us more, particularly how he became Governor”.

A chieftain of Labour Party and one of the major political stakeholders in the state, Mr. Eddy Osifo on his part described the governor’s allegation as part of a scheme to rubbish the image of the late president.

“If the Governor’s assertion is correct, he has succeeded in speaking ill of late Yar’ Adua by portraying him to the public as a treacherous President. Maybe Oshiomhole did not understand the logic and definition of his claims,” Osifo said.

“The late President Yar’ Adua by the constitution or convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was the leader of the party. Can a statesman and a patriot that believes in the rule of law sponsor a candidate in another political party against the candidate of the political party in which he is the leader without the permission of the national working committee of that party?

“Oshiomhole’s claim that President Yar’ Adua encouraged him to go to court after losing Edo State gubernatorial election emphasized the treacherous note in which Oshiomhole decided to place the late President” Osifo said.

The governor replying through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Peter Okhiria, however, chided Erahon and Osifo for seeking to make politics out of the issue alleging that they were being sponsored by a shamefaced PDP.

“The Governor was only explaining that the late President meant well for Nigeria and that despite the fact that he was a PDP member he still accommodated other Nigerians who share the same vision with him.”

“The problem with these same people is that they keep politicizing every issue without looking at the substance. They should criticize constructively and stop dabbling on issues that have nothing to do with them. Are they now spokesmen to the Yar’Adua family? Let them discuss issues that will help develop the state so as to help encourage the Comrade Governor on his resolve to fix the problems of the state and stop this their connivance with the failed PDP members” he asserted.

Being Edo State where the heart beats on such sensitive political issues the rhythm may have just started. The true shape of the late president’s legacy may yet be redefined!