By SIMON EBEGBULEM

I am disappointed with all of you leaders, what went wrong? You mean you guys sat here in Edo South and allowed the PDP to pick three House of Assembly seats? That is unacceptable and I am here to know what went wrong, because I know that our people in Bini here have rejected PDP. So somebody should tell me what went wrong”.

Comrade Adams Oshomole

With these words, Governor Adams Oshiomhole thundered before the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo South shortly after the National Assembly and presidential elections which saw the party suffering a crushing defeat in the hands of the PDP. The meeting was at Government House, Benin City, on Monday, March 30.

The leaders present were speechless as they had no explanation to give to the governor, who, despite the soldiers who flooded his Edo North to intimidate him on election day, battled to deliver victory for the presidential candidate of his party, Gen.Muhammadu Buhari, and delivered the three House of Representatives and senatorial seats in the district for his party. Apart from the blow the APC received from the PDP in Edo South, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, and the Minister of Works, Arch.Mike Onolemenmen, held Edo Central for the PDP.

However, when the result of the presidential election started coming in, Oshiomhole’s hopes were rekindled and it became obvious that a new political leader in Edo in him will emerge after all. Despite the use of soldiers to intimidate APC leaders in the state during the presidential election as well as the hate campaigns in churches against Buhari, Oshiomhole garnered 45 per cent for his party’s presidential candidate which was a huge success.

Strategy

Prior to the general elections, the PDP’s strategy was to win majority of the National Assembly seats and pick the majority in the state House of Assembly so as to give Oshiomhole a turbulent time and, if possible, impeach him before the end of his tenure so as to stop him from producing a successor in 2016. Like Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State was targeted by the Presidency, Oshiomhole was another target in the South-South following his vigorous campaign against President Goodluck Jonathan. After the presidential and National Assembly elections, the Edo governor went back to the drawing board to prepare for the House of Assembly election.

During the presidential and National Assembly elections, apart from the money said to have been used by the PDP to confuse the electorate, some APC leaders allegedly compromised and looked the other way as riggers reportedly went to work. Those people were said to have been identified by Oshiomhole and they were tasked to prove their loyalty to the party during the House of Assembly election or quit their leadership positions in the APC.

The governor particularly expressed surprise at some party leaders who allegedly collected money from the PDP to work against their party. Of course, the game changer was the victory of Buhari in the presidential election. Oshiomhole’s men went to work, while many who had left the APC for the PDP were all coming back to seek relevance. The PDP got the first shocker when their major financier, Captain Hosa Okunbor, the Benin born billionaire, allegedly refused to fund the party during the House of Assembly election. The PDP became helpless in Edo after Jonathan lost the election.

Okunbor is known for his benevolence for his Benin people. He was said to have invested over N1billion to help his friend, the President, in Edo and that was why the APC could not match the financial muscle of the PDP during the National Assembly and presidential elections.

But after the defeat of Jonathan and his subsequent acceptance of the result of the elections, Okunbor was said to have informed his supporters to work for their brother, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, and APC candidates for the House of Assembly election, after he met with Oshiomhole. Apart from Okunbor, PDP leaders such Gen.Charles Airhiavbere, who ran against Oshiomhole in the 2012 governorship election, former Governor Osarhiemen Osunbor and thousands of their supporters dumped the PDP for the APC. Their entrance, coupled with the doggedness of APC supporters, boosted the chances of the APC in the House of Assembly election leading to the APC clearing 21 out of the 24 seats.

Road show

This time, it was like a triumphant entry to Benin City for Oshiomhole from his village, Iyamho, when he led thousands of APC faithful on a 10-km road show round major streets of Benin City, to celebrate the victory of the APC in the House of Assembly election. The “Thank You” road show, which commenced from Ramat Park on Auchi-Abuja Road, took the governor and the party faithful through Ikpoba Slope to Ewah Street, through Gani Fawehimi Layout, to Guobadia Street down to New Lagos Road to New Benin through Mission Road and ended at the Oba Ovoramwem Square, in the heart of the state capital. Addressing the mammoth crowd, who danced all through the road show singing melodious victory songs, at the Oba Ovoramwen Square, Oshiomhole said, the victory of the APC in the House of Assembly election was the final nail on “the political coffin of expired godfathers in the state”.

“Everybody here, all Edo men and women have again spoken, you have reaffirmed your confidence and trust in my stewardship. You have renewed the vigor, your commitment to change and, last Saturday, you completed the first chapter in this journey”, the governor said.

“You remember the President came to Edo and said Edo will fall in 2015 and 2016. I said God will not abandon us and that Jonathan will fall. Has he not fallen? We now have a completely new energetic, imaginative, rugged and dogged political leadership. I am proud of Edo people and I want to thank you so very much for being there for me and I promise that I will be there for all of you. I will give my all for the Edo people because if you imagine the plans of the enemies, while we were campaigning for change for progress and development, they were plotting to use acid to bath my political life. They did advertorials, they did all kind of abusive campaigns but God said the devil is a liar. Today, like I told you at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, people like us conquered fear many years ago. We will stand on our feet and fight on the basis of our convictions. We will not go down on our knees to beg those who themselves are living on the quick sand of time.

“I am very happy for the referendum that took place on Saturday. I salute the fighting spirit of our people in Esanland. To the Edo woman, we will do our best to support your commercial life and we will do for you much more than we have done before. To our youths, this struggle was about you. You have all come out in huge number, you bore the risk, you sweated, you did not sleep and by the grace of God, we are now in a position to reposition you and to empower you. To our elders, we will revisit some of those programs that are specifically targeted at you because the elders have prayed, they have had sleepless nights praying against the devil and as you can see, God answered the prayers. To all the great people of Edo State, to the great Oba of Benin Kingdom, to all the members of the royal family, to all the Enigies of Benin Kingdom, to all the chiefs, to all the leaders of thought, the Benin Forum, the Benin Leaders of Thought, the great Benin women, the Odionweres, to everybody, I cannot thank you enough. God will bless your children as a reward for your sacrifice.”

Anointing

Having emerged as the new leader of Edo politics, having conquered his political enemies both at the federal and state levels, Oshiomhole is expected to anoint his key men from the three senatorial districts for positions at the federal level. Depending on where the Minister from Edo is zoned to, the governor has qualified and dogged aides he can anoint from the three senatorial districts. From Edo South for instance, he has his Chief of Staff, Patrick Obahiagbon; Commissioner for Works, Osarodion Ogie; and a veteran politician, Lawrence Orka, are his political foot soldiers. He also has a veteran politician in the person of Charles Idahosa, his Special Adviser on Political Matters. However, Oshiomhole might expose himself to danger if he sends somebody like Ogie to Abuja, particularly now that one of his trusted foot soldiers, the Majority Leader in the state Assembly, Philip Shaibu, is going to the House of Representatives. Oshiomhole can afford to go to sleep as long as the duo are available.

So he needs to keep Ogie around. The meaning is that Obahiagbon (Igodomigodo) will be in a better position to grab that position if the Minister is ceded to Edo South. Obahiagbon has exhibited loyalty to the APC since he lost the House of Reps ticket to Rasaq Bello-Osagie in 2011. He moved on and campaigned vigorously with the governor in the 2012 governorship election. After that, he was named Chief of Staff and ran for the senatorial primaries in 2015 but lost to Samson Osagie. As a matter of fact, after he lost the ticket, he was seconded to the Buhari campaign team by Oshiomhole.

His continued loyalty and calm mien each time he faces political challenges endeared him to the governor. So it will not come as a shock if he tops the ministerial list in Edo. For Orka, he enjoys the respect of Oshiomhole for not following his bosom friend, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, to the PDP. The governor, however, might not anoint Orka for ministerial appointment but ensured he gets a good board appointment to spite his (Oshiomhole) former political ally, Ize-Iyamu. Orka has shown loyalty and dedication to the cause of the APC despite several overtures from Ize-Iyamu.

From Edo North, you have the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof.Julius Ihonvbere; former Deputy Governor, Rev. Peter Obadan; Commissioner for Environment, Clem Agba; former SSG, Simon Imuekheme; and the current Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Chief Lucky James. Ihonvbere has all it takes to be a Minister and it will not come as a surprise if he makes it this time. He has remained loyal to the party and the governor. As a matter of fact, after he lost the senatorial ticket to Chief Francis Alimekhena, Oshiomhole’s kinsman, he campaigned vigorously for the party and its candidate.

Like Oshiomhole corrected the perceived injustice against Akoko Edo people by giving the senatorial slot of the APC to the people, in 2011, when Deacon Domingo Obende emerged senator, he might want to correct the injustice meted at Ihonvbere by the PDP after he was deprived of both the governorship or any form of appointment in the PDP.   Oshiomhole may want to showcase Ihonvbere to Nigerians so that Edo North and Edo people in general will benefit from his wealth of experience. However, Imuekheme and Agba could also be a threat to that ambition due to their vast experiences, loyalty and closeness to the Comrade Governor.

Chief Francis Inegbeneki has naturally emerged as the leader of APC in Edo Central. Despite the fact that he lost the senatorial election to the PDP candidate in the area, Engr. Clifford Ordia, he mobilized APC members to pick three out of the six House of Assembly seats from the district. He is a mobilizer and a dogged fighter. His leadership of the APC in the zone poses a great threat to the PDP dominated area. Oshiomhole might elevate him to the federal level. As the new political leader of Edo, Oshiomhole will comfortably search for his successor in 2016 and, as it seems, it is going to be a smooth ride following the daily defections of PDP leaders to APC. As his party has taken charge at the federal level, no one will intimidate him and his supporters any more with the federal might. He will surely install a successor of his choice in 2016 and go back to his country home in Iyamho to relax and coordinate the affairs of the APC in the state.