By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
For many, even though it wasn’t the former national chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, that contested the governorship election in Edo State, he stood to lose the more with the defeat of his anointed candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu.
Oshiomhole had taken the risk of denying an incumbent, Godwin Obaseki, the ticket of the APC, and handed the flag to Ize-Iyamu. The Oshiomhole political calculation eventually cost him his chair as the national chairman of the APC because his party at the ward level suspended him, and the Appeal Court held that the suspension was valid.
Obaseki simply moved to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to contest against a familiar foe, Ize-Iyamu.
For Oshiomhole, the election was important on many count. One, to prove that he made the right judgment, and two, to retain his relevance in the APC, especially with the horse trading going on around the 2023 presidential ticket. He had to therefore ensure a victory for his preferred candidate if he must have a stake in that process.
He eventually loss, and the man he wanted to remove as governor, became victorious at the poll.
Oshiomhole, who had maintained a calculated silence since the result was announced on September 20, spoke on September 23 for the first time, this time like a philosopher, and not a politician.
In a video recording, he said: “In life, you work hard and leave God for the outcome. You do your best and trust God to bless your efforts. I feel good, I feel strong, thank God. In life, you win some and you lose some but life goes on.
“A lot of people will be thinking now, ‘oh, Comrade must be down’. But I’m not down. When God says you are not down, you are not down and I am not down.”