The battle for the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State ahead of the April governorship primary of the party moved to Abuja, last Wednesday, when the national leadership of the APC met with the aspirants. The meeting became inevitable following the tension in Edo APC over who succeeds Governor Adams Oshiomhole. Following the seeming preference for the Chairman of the state government’s Economic Team, Mr Godwin Obaseki, as the APC governorship candidate by Oshiomhole, it was learnt that some of the aspirants started mounting pressure on the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, to react on the issue, after they feared that the primary may be manipulated in favour of Obaseki. At the Abuja meeting, Oyegun reportedly allayed the fear of the aspirants, assuring them that the national leadership of the party will ensure a level-playing ground for all of them.
The National Chairman is from Edo South – where all of the APC aspirants hail from apart from former Governor Osarhiemien Osunbor and Barr.Ken Imasuagbon who are both from Edo Central. Meanwhile, the name of a former President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Peter Esele, surfaced last week as a possible aspirant of the party . Esele is also from Edo Central. Due to his reputation in the politics of the state, Oyegun is like a father to all and he has worked very closely with Oshiomhole since he became the National Chairman of the APC. The question on the lips of most people in Edo is, what is the position of Oyegun in the Obaseki project?
Though Sunday Vanguard gathered that there were attempts by some Bini politicians to cause disaffection between Oshiomhole and Oyegun shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential election, the attempts hit the rocks after the governor and Oyegun met on some of the issues raised. Oshiomhole was uncomfortable when he learnt that some Bini politicians attempted to join the APC through the back door, running to Oyegun on the grounds that he is one of their own. It was learnt that some even went as far as advising him to take charge of the structure of the party in Edo so that he will decide who becomes the governor of the state.
However, the former Permanent Secretary was said to have told them that he had more problems at the national level to contend withy; so they should not drag him into the politics of the state. He equally admonished them to meet with the governor or the state Chairman of the APC if they had any issue on the running of the party or joining the party. Sunday Vanguard gathered that when Oshiomhole and Oyegun met to resolve Edo issues, the former reminded latter that the same Bini politicians hovering around him were the same people fighting him a week to the presidential election, adding that if former President Jonathan had won, they would not have remembered that he (Oyegun) is a Bini son. The duo agreed to be wary of such politicians who would want to hide under ethnicity to cause disaffection between the duo. It was gathered that both leaders laughed over the matter and resolved not to allow any body to come between them.
However what is going to test that agreement is the issue of who becomes the candidate of the APC at the Edo governorship poll. It is rumoured that while the Governor prefers Obaseki, Oyegun is rooting for the former Minister of State, Works, Engr.Chris Ogiemwonyi. But unlike the governor who has taken pains to explain the reason why he prefers Obaseki to others, Oyegun declared he has no preferred candidate when he met with the aspirants in Abuja last Wednesday. Oshiomhole has been dogged in marketing Obaseki, asserting that, just like other political leaders have their preferred aspirants, he equally has the right to back his choice of aspirant, assuring however that the primary will be free and fair. And anyone who has been following Oshiomhole’s politics will believe him when he says the primary will be free and fair.
Even politicians in the state used to make it as a mockery that whoever he backs in any primary does not win. They cited his Chief of Staff, Patrick Obahiagbon who ran for the senatorial primary of the party against Samson Osagie as an example. They equally sited his Nephew Romeo who ran for the House of Assembly seat. He rather plays politics of conviction rather than imposition which he started. But it was learnt however that some of the aspirants are still worried because the fear is that the governor must have learnt from such political lessons and may have upgraded his tactics with a view to delivering his aspirant at the primary, particularly when he is aware that he is going to face men with deep pockets at the field. Governorship aspirants such as Gen.Charles Airhiavbere, who won the PDP ticket to face Oshiomhole in 2012 cannot be underestimated. Oshiomhole equally knows that his deputy understands the internal politics of the APC and will also be a hard nut to crack at the primaries. Ogienwonyi is today equipped with better experiences which he is expected to unleash at the primary. Imansuagbon, the Rice Man, has been roaring to go. These men, Sunday Vanguard learnt, Oshiomhole is watching with keen interest.
But the only snag in the governor’s camp right now is the inability of some of his key foot soldiers to join him in the Obaseki project. Though Sunday Vanguard learnt that efforts are being made to oil the Edo. In Safe Hand political machinery, led by the state former Commissioner for Works, Osarodion Ogie Philip Shuaibu, who is now in the House of Representatives, the idea is to stop some of the members of the group from moving to the camps of other governorship aspirants which may be devastating for the governor.
Ogie is one of the governorship aspirants and a key Oshiomhole foot soldier, but his followers are angry that Obaseki was preferred ahead of their man. And if nothing urgent is done to check the exodus of members of this group to other camps, the Deputy Governor of the state, Dr Pius Odubu,a strong contender for the governorship seat, may be the beneficiary. Odubu has been working round the clock to ensure he clinches the ticket of the APC, knowing he is facing opposition from his boss who has told the party he has his preferred candidate. However, Oshiomhole is working assiduously to get his key men on track so that he does not lose them to Odubu or Ogienwonyi. Shuaibu, who reacted to the meeting held last week between the governor and political leaders in the state, debunked the insinuation that members of the Edo In Safe Hands are working against the governor’s interest just as he vowed that the group will always work with Oshiomhole whom he described as their father.
“People are praying that we have issues with the governor but that will not work, no matter the situation right now. The governor is my father, and wherever he goes I go, but he is such a great man that he always gives you the opportunity to argue with him on issues and, at the end of the day, whoever has the superior argument wins. And that is why we must commend him for finding time to consult with political leaders on who the next governor will be. But some have dissenting voices, some have fears about certain candidates. But the general view, at the end of the day, is that we will not rubbish the Comrade Governor. All of us that know what the Comrade Governor has done to liberate us from the political slavery of Edo god fathers, will not want to go back to Egypt.
The Comrade Governor has liberalized the political space such that the son of a farmer can now contest for the governorship of this state without any form of intimidation. So we will definitely come to an agreement and obviously I can tell you that, with what the Comrade Governor has done in this state, it will be difficult for anybody to defeat his candidate or the APC candidate. And the process of choosing the APC candidate is what the Comrade Governor has started by consulting with stakeholders and more meetings will come up”.
The next one month will be very interesting in the politics of the ruling APC Edo. Oyegun’s position on the governorship candidate of the APC will be clearer, while the cordial relationship between Oshiomhole and his deputy, will be tested now that Odubu is determined to gun for the APC ticket despite the seeming opposition from his boss.
