Ahead of the Edo State governorship primary holding in two weeks from now, John Alechenu examines the political intrigues and last-ditch efforts by governors elected on the All Progressives Congress platform to broker peace between Governor Godwin Obaseki and his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole, who is also the national chairman of the APC
When the Deputy National Chairman (North) of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, made an open appeal to party leaders to save the party from alleged manhandling by the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, he probaby had the crisis in the Edo State chapter of the party in mind.
He warned of dire consequences for the party if action was not taken to stop a repeat of the scenario which led to the Supreme Court decision nullifying the party’s convincing victory in the 2019 National Assembly and governorship elections in Zamfara State.
Recall that the Supreme Court nullified the victory of the APC in Zamfara State saying the party failed to conduct its primary in line with the party’s constitution.
Shuaibu’s warning stemmed from growing concerns over the worrying dimension of the war of attrition between the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, and his estranged political godfather, Adams Oshiomhole, who is also the APC national chairman.
Shuaibu, in an open letter to party leaders, wondered why party leaders had remained silent when the party was facing an existential threat.
He had said, “What are the leaders of the party doing in the midst of this anarchy? Are they all equally fed up with the seeming collapsing party in the hands of a politically injured person that seems to be nursing political revenge?
“The leaders need to take a stand so that the followers will know whether the party is now either a jungle or that entity of our collective dream at the inception.
“Majority of the members of the party are already perplexed and disillusioned with some even weighing their options. A stitch in time, I believe, saves nine!
“I call on leaders of the APC to urgently intervene to ensure the provisions of the party constitution are adhered to and not further compromised. With regards to Ondo and Edo primary elections, there is already absence of transparency.”
He argued that the regulations issued that would guide the processes were already in violation of Article 20 (v) on page 76 of the party’s constitution, where it’s stated that the National Executive Committee is the only organ that “shall approve” such guidelines and regulations, including the mode of nominating candidates.
Perhaps in response to his distress call, governors elected on the platform of the APC, under the aegis of the Progressives Governors Forum, rallied support for Obaseki and undertook fence–mending trips to the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and the Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee.
The meeting with Tinubu was held behind closed doors and its details have yet to be made public.
However, media reports after the meeting indicated that the APC national leader told the governors that party primaries were vital for democracy to thrive and that a level-playing field would be created for aspirants in the coming Edo primary.
But a source privy to what was discussed said, “The meeting was held at the instance of the governors who wanted the national leader to intervene, because Oshiomhole is his close ally.
“The governors want a situation where their colleague will retain his seat. And as you know, politics is all about interest, whichever way you choose to see it.”
Obaseki has however given a general overview of the reason for the visit.
He said, “For me and my colleague governors, we cannot sit and see a party we built destroyed; we cannot see a ruling party become so weakened; and whatever it will take to secure peace and harmony in the party, we are prepared to do.
“That is why I joined my colleagues to go and see the leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to assure him that we are all working for the same cause; we are all working to build our party.
“From 26 states, we are now 20. We don’t want to lose any state again, there is really no reason to. We should all drop our egos and work for our party and the unity of our country.”
The group of eight APC governors, who visited Tinubu, also paid a similar visit to the APC national chairman and the NWC, all in a bid to broker peace and ensure that the situation in Edo State does not degenerate to a point where the party loses the state to the opposition.
A political scientist, James Adamu, believes that current state governors are not as powerful as those who held sway in the first few years of the return to democracy in 1999.
He said, “Most of the governors wielded a lot of power because they knew a thing or two about real politics. A lot of them came to power using godfathers who preferred to remain in the background. But today, you have ex-governors still holding the reins of power using proxies.
“They even want to share the limelight with the incumbent and dictate the terms. Whenever the incumbent wants to assert himself, you have this kind of conflict you are seeing in Edo today. For example, as governor, Tinubu stood up to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, so did Orji Kalu, James Ibori and so many of them.”
However, no matter how much the power of state governors is believed to have waned, it hasn’t removed the fact that governors still wield enormous influence in party administration and other related matters.
The APC National Vice Chairman (North- West), Inuwa Abdulkadir, said “Political parties recognise the importance of governors because of the critical role states play in the kind of federal system we operate.
“For you to be a member of any party, you are required to first register at the ward level then the local government and so on. For you to be elected into the federal legislature you must come from a state. State governors are therefore critical stakeholders.”
Pundits, however, noted that the intervention of the APC governors in the Obaseki/Oshiomhole feud might not yield the desired results on account of existing mistrust among the current set of governors.
A public affairs analyst, Jerimiah Adamu, who shares this view, said, “For those who are close watchers of the APC, it is clear that the current crop of governors are not as united as they ought to be.
“There is a reason for this. You have governors who are fiercely loyal to Tinubu, who whether or not you agree, remains a major power broker.
“There are also those who feel he is too domineering and are prepared to stop at nothing to put him in his place before 2023.
“A lack of consensus on this and many other issues have made things difficult. This was what played out during the last attempt to remove Oshiomhole from office.”
Moves by the PGF to broker truce appear to have hit a brick wall as both Oshiomhole and Obaseki are sticking to their guns.
Obaseki has not stopped his verbal attacks on Oshiomhole and the APC chairman in turn has not ceased from using the party machinery to show the governor he’s in charge at the national level.
The Oshiomhole-led NWC had announced direct primary as the mode for the selection of governorship candidate in Edo State.
Oshiomhole has since written a letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission informing it of this decision.
This is a direct opposite of the indirect mode preferred by Obaseki and his supporters.
The direct primary gives opportunity to all registered card-carrying members of the party to vote for the candidate of their choice. The indirect mode, on the other hand, empowers delegates who are mostly party leaders and political appointees to perform the role.
Couple of days to the contest for the party’s ticket, one aspirant, Pastor Osazie Ize-Iyamu, appears to be the “anointed candidate” to battle the incumbent governor for the ticket.
Everything appears neatly packaged to give Ize-Iyamu the needed boost to achieve this objective. Oshiomhole-led NWC has also granted his request for a waiver to contest.
The impression that Ize-Iyamu is the anointed aspirant was further enforced with the red-carpet treatment he received during his recent visit to the party secretariat in Abuja.
He was at the secretariat to purchase his Expression of Interest and nomination forms.
He remains the first and only aspirant who was received by a team of high-ranking party officials including the National Organising Secretary, Emma Ibidiro; the National Vice Chairman (South-South), Hilliard Eta, among others.
Funningly enough, Ize-Iyamu contested against Obaseki as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party about four years ago.
His entourage of political heavyweights from Edo State was equally intimidating. It included: Chris Ogiemwonyi, Gen. Charles Airhiavbere (retd), E. J Agbonyima, Prof. Ebegue Amadasun and high-ranking members of the state’s National Assembly caucus.
From then on, supporters began to refer to Ize-Iyamu as “consensus aspirant.”
In what appears to be the icing on the cake, Obaseki announced that six other aspirants gave up their aspirations and contributed funds to pay the N22.5m fee for his forms.
Ize-Iyamu may however not have it smooth. This is because four out of the aspirants have reneged; they have since purchased forms and have declared their readiness to battle for the ticket.
Whether the governors’ intervention will stop Oshiomhole from re-enacting the primary election drama that frustrated the second-term ambition of former Lagos State Governor, Akinwumi Ambode, remains to be seen.
Punch
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