By Emeka Alex Duru
Even in the best of time, election in Edo, is war of sorts. It is usually an encounter in which the combatants throw in everything to outsmart their opponents. For the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), any contest in Edo provides opportunity to reenact a battle of supremacy, an old rivalry. At any point in time, the stakes are high. And there are points to prove.
The September 19 governorship poll in the state, falls into the existing square. It is a contest that is seen in many quarters as a proxy war for 2023 general elections between the APC and PDP. At the state level, it is a rematch of the 2016 encounter that pitched Governor Godwin Obaseki, then of the APC and Osagie Ize-Iyamu then of the PDP. Now, the two have switched camps. And the rivalry returns.
For the APC, Edo presents a launch pad to establish presence in the South-South. Until the recent movement of the governor, Godwin Obaseki to the PDP, the state had been firmly in its column. With a governor in the state house and majority in the state assembly, APC had looked comfortable in the coming poll. But with the exit of the governor on account of the face-off between him and his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole, the September poll seems a tall order for the party. APC is yet to recover from the loss of Bayelsa which it had won in the November 16 governorship election but lost to discrepancies in the credentials of its deputy governorship candidate. It had earlier lost Rivers due to irreconcilable differences among its chieftains which made it unable to conduct lawful primaries for the governorship and assembly polls. PDP consequently took virtually all the elective positions in the state without firing a shot.
Added to the exit of Obaseki, the APC currently does not have any state under its control in the South-South region. The Edo election therefore, holds a lot for the party
The race will also not be easy for the PDP. Though it has the governor, some members of the legislature and council chairmen in its fold, there are still some challenges ahead. For instance, Obaseki, even with the so-called power of incumbency, needs to prove that though he allegedly rode on the back of Oshiomhole to victory in 2016, he is now his own man. He also needs to neutralize pockets of grievances particularly among PDP governorship aspirants he upstaged to grab the party’s ticket to confront the APC. Besides, he has to face the much abused federal might – a euphemism for electoral manipulation by the electoral umpire and security forces.
What is at play in the Edo governorship election, therefore, is a huge battle. Governors Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano and Nyesom Wike of Rivers are leading the campaign councils of the APC and PDP, respectively in the election. Both are maverick and unconventional in varying degrees.
Comments credited to them are already posting danger signals ahead. On his inauguration as the chairman of the Edo APC campaign council, Ganduje was said to have boasted of how the APC would place Wike in an ‘isolation centre’ and win the election before he recovers. Wike has also fired back telling Ganduje that he would not be able to sway the voters in Edo State with his famed “illicit” access to the dollar in the September 19 governorship election. Critics are interpreting the comment as indication of the level of rigging and or violence that would characterize the election. Both governors represent the stubborn tendencies in their parties. Ganduje came to office on the platform of the Rabiu Kwankwaso political structure, having served as his deputy for eight years. It did not however take time on coming to power, for a consuming feud to ensue between them. Ganduje came out of the battle to establish dominance of Kano politics, ever since. For Wike, remaining strong in volatile Rivers politics, had seen him taking on Rotimi Amaechi, the Transport Minister, whom he had served as Chief of Staff, at a time, when the former was governor. The fear is that they will import their unyielding characters in Edo.
The suspicion of partisanship on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Police, does not help matters. In many electoral contests lately, the Professor Yakoob Mahmood-led electoral body has given Nigerians cause for concern. Nigerians have been expressing concern on how the INEC will handle the poll to ensure that the votes count and the people get the governor of their choice.
