THE political tension in Edo State was visibly heightened last Wednesday when Governor Adams Oshiomhole received a rousing welcome at the Benin Airport, shortly after arriving from Abuja where he went to pick the governorship nomination form of the Action Congress of Nigeria, (ACN).
Oshiomhole collected the N4.7million governorship form, purchased for him by Edo women 24 hours after the state leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presented their governorship candidate, General Charles Airhiavbere to the revered Benin Monarch, Oba Erediauwa.
The purchase of the nomination form followed his deft move in reconciling the two major divisions in the ACN who were split over the return of his deputy, Dr. Pius Odibo. The rancour was so fierce that members of the party feared that it might affect the chances of the party, particularly after it became clear that the PDP was going to field a candidate from the Edo South Senatorial District which has 58% of the population.
Oshiomhole, who was mindful that the PDP may capitalize on any crack in the ruling party as such made frantic efforts to ensure that the matter was resolved amicably.
Consequently, ACN leaders including the Governor; former Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi; state chairman of the party, Thomas Okosun; and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu among others, converged penultimate week at the Government House and laid the matter to rest.
Ize-Iyamu, in that meeting, moved a motion for the adoption of Odubu as Oshiomhole’s running mate and the motion was unanimously adopted by the leaders. That was how Odubu emerged as Oshiomhole’s running mate for the July 14, 2012 governorship election.
Endorsements for Oshiomhole
The resolution of the crisis was followed with an avalanche of endorsements for Oshiomhole’s second term bid as Governor of Edo State. Three weeks after the traditional rulers (Enogies) in Edo South Senatorial District assured the governor of their support and prayers for his re-election, monarchs in Edo Central Senatorial District, where the former Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih hails from, followed suit last Monday anchoring the endorsement on the need for Oshiomhole to return and complete the development projects he started in the state.
Drawn from Igueben, Esan West and Esan Central Local Governments, the royal fathers, who spoke one after the other, said although they were not members of any political party, but as traditional rulers of their areas, they would always support the growth and development of their communities and this, they said, the Governor had brought to them after many years in the dark.”
The battle line
Arriving Benin last Wednesday with his ACN gubernatorial nomination form for a second term, Oshiomhole said the battle line had been drawn and reiterated his campaign to ensure the final “political burial of the god father”.
In what looked like the kick-off of his campaign at the Benin Airport the governor assured thousands of ACN faithful who were bussed to the Benin Airport to receive him that he would give his all to ensure the transformation of the state.
While displaying the nomination form, he thanked the ACN women in the state, who paid for it. “The Edo ACN chairman said the women organized and they have raised money and paid for the form. I want to thank them for being such wonderful women, wonderful mothers and wives.”
He assured “that as we begin the process of seeking renewal of our mandate, we promise to give our all to the people of Edo State.
We are determined to redefine politics and governance and the electioneering that is about to start will be based on issues, will be based on score cards, will be based on report card, will be based on who I am and what I represent. Our opponent should tell us who they are and what they represent.”
In a tone indicative of his determination to scrutinise and make the record of his challenger as a former army officer an issue, Oshiomhole warned:
“Everybody’s history will be published in all the schools and markets” as he reiterated his belief and commitment to the one-man one vote mantra and urged them to remain steadfast. “When the godfather was on his feet we dismantled his rigging machine in the last election, now that he is down and on oxygen mask, he is not in a position to trigger the rigging machine.
In any case, all those he used in the past to perpetrate rigging have repented from their sins”.
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