Edo’s Voice Of Protest

The Story About The Loss Of The September 19th Edo Governorship Election By The APC To The PDP, And What It Portends For The APC Ahead of 2023

By Maryam Musa

Saturday 19th September, 2020 will always remain a day of reminiscence for the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, Ize-Iyamu, and others after all the politicking, high wired politics and hullabaloo in the build-up to the Edo Guber election considering how they have taken it upon themselves to remove the incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki and also considering the political war that followed before the election.

However, the table has turned against them, as Governor Obaseki won the Edo State governorship election, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the PDP flagbearer as the winner of the Edo State gubernatorial election. That election is being considered as one of the most credible governorship election that was ever held since that of 1999.

The results were declared by INEC after the results were counted from all LGAs. Accordingly, Obaseki had 307,955 votes, which was enough to be declared a clear winner over Ize Iyamu’s 223,619 votes.

However, the election has come and gone but there have been talks about the election even as the ruling party is ruing over the election.

As it is, findings by DESERT HERALD indicates that high wired political scheming by some stalwarts of the All Progressives Congress, APC, over who gets the party’s ticket in 2023 to fly its flag for the presidential election may have contributed immensely to the closing of the 19th Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State.

Most party leaders of the APC are confused as to what happened, while some have been lamenting since the loss of the election to the opposition. For instance, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has said that three weeks to the election, the party was projected to win the election, but that the unanticipated happened, while also a member of the party’s BoT, Prince Benjamin Apugo, said the party lost due to inner bickering bedeviling the party.

Meanwhile, other party members have accused former APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, over what they termed their domineering effect on the party, for the Edo humiliation.

Many have attributed the local Edo politics to the loss of the election by the APC, even as it is a known fact that majority of the Governors are not in good time with Adams Oshiomhole most of who he frustrated in the party as if they never had a stake in it; some others whom he denied ticket and as such they decided it is payback time. During the campaign it was visible that only two governors were there, Hope Uzodimma of Imo State and Ganduje of Kano State.

For instance, it was surprising that the APC could not do a grand finale of its campaigns, which means in other words they never closed their campaign appropriately, should the President not be there, then the Vice President should be there, in the midst of a 49-member National Campaign Council with about five serving governors, former governors, senators, ministers, and others it was surprising that the campaign was reduced to Oshiomhole and Ize-Iyamu.

Meanwhile, the former Governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, has stated that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is still surviving because of the respect the party stalwarts have for President Muhammadu Buhari and due to the fact that he is still in power.

Okorocha, who spoke with select journalists in his Abuja home, also said that unless the party goes back to the four pillars that formed the APC, namely the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the All Nigeria People Party (ANPP), the party will continue to struggle in vain.

The senator lauded the Edo masses for once again demonstrating people’s power as against the dictates of a few, noting that anything that’s founded on injustice will not survive.

According to the Imo politician, if the APC does not right the wrongs done by the Adams Oshiomhole-led executive that was recently dissolved; the party will continue to grope in the dark.

“There is no more APC, what we have is the respect for President Muhammadu Buhari; that is what is keeping us together. What we have is our respect for the person of President Buhari and we still believe that something can be done.

“That trust and respect is what we still call APC, outside that respect for President Buhari and the trust and belief that he could wake up one day and correct all these injustices and make it fine, nothing is happening.

“That’s the only thing that is keeping the APC, if not that, I don’t think there is anything like APC because people are beginning to get fed up. Again, PDP is not even better, the party has its own challenges,” he said.

While recalling the formative years of APC, he explained that the CPC was led by Buhari, ACN led by Ahmed Tinubu, ANPP headed by Ogbonnaya Onu while APGA led by him, brought in its structure.

“Every other person fell into this structure. The PDP group came in and joined us. I gave the name APC, I designed that logo and that was the beginning of the party and we had understanding.

“That is the party you call APC and unless we go back to where it all started, APC can never see the light of the day and that was how we started and that was what brought President Muhammadu Buhari to office,” he noted.

He stressed that nobody can rule out the role of the four key people, maintaining that while the CPC had only one governor in Nasarawa, APGA had only one governor, ACN came with the chunk of the governors while ANPP had a few.

“And we shared the first positions equally among these four parties. Now the founding fathers of the party are relegated to the background and people are coming with different interests, making us play the same kind of politics that PDP played” the former governor argued.

On 2023, Okorocha insisted that the major criterion for who should govern Nigeria after Buhari, should be the person’s capacity and not necessarily where the person comes from, saying that those who have nothing to offer should stay away from showing interest.

Okorocha described APC’s loss in Edo as a masses’ revolution against injustice, saying that he had warned several times of the danger of allowing dictatorial tendencies and intentional injustices prevail.

He said: “When injustice comes into a matter, the centre can no longer hold and that is the problem of the party. I forewarned about what is happening today in our party. And it means we don’t have APC in the South South, that is a bad sign.

“In the southeast, literally we can say we don’t have APC, we just managed through the ‘Ben Johnson’ way to get one state and that does not make our image good.

“The same party under the leadership of the president, a man we consider a clean man, an honest man, a patriotic man and these are happening, that means it is unfortunate.

“The truth is, what I have been talking about has come to play. I will not congratulate the PDP, I will congratulate the Edo people. I congratulate them for standing up against injustice.

“The people that voted for Godwin Obaseki are not only PDP, even people in the APC voted for him. They want to stand up against injustice, Edo people are not docile, they know what they want and how they want it,” he said.”

Also the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo says it lost the governorship election in the state because of the “needless” crisis foisted on the party by Adams Oshiomhole, former national chairman of the ruling party.

The party said this while congratulating Godwin Obaseki, Edo governor, for his victory at the poll in a statement on Tuesday.

Obaseki, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), polled 307,955 votes to defeat Osagie Ize-Iyamu, candidate of the APC, who secured 223,619 votes.

The governor was disqualified from contesting the APC primary election after he fell out with Oshiomhole. Both men were at loggerheads for months over issues concerning Edo. But Obaseki defected to the PDP where he ran for the office of governor and won.

Although Anslem Ojezua, chairman of Edo APC, did not mention Oshiomhole’s name in the statement, he blamed “arrogant and irresponsible leadership” for the crisis that caused the party’s loss at the poll.

The APC leadership in Edo had issues with Oshiomhole and that led to his removal as national chairman.

While congratulating Obaseki on his win, Ojezua said steps should be taken to “salvage the well-being of our party in the state”.

“We join President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Caretaker Committee of our great Party to congratulate Governor Godwin Obaseki and his Deputy Rt. Hon. Philip Shaibu for their victory at the just concluded Governorship election in Edo State,” the chairman said.

“The election has been generally acclaimed to be peaceful, orderly and transparent. The people of Edo State have made their choice in a very clear and unambiguous manner.

“Our loss at the poll stems from the needles and avoidable crisis foisted on the party by a selfish, insensitive, arrogant and irresponsible leadership.

“While we begin to take steps to try and salvage the wellbeing of our party in the state, we call on the governor to be magnanimous in victory while we urge all those who contested to sheathe their swords and put the elections behind us.

“We must all put hands on deck and close ranks with the government in order to ensure a seamless transition to the final lap of governance in the State without being subjected to any further needless distraction and rancour.

“The establishment of a robust infrastructural base to guarantee economic growth at this critical time must be the paramount consideration and in the best interest of the good people of Edo State.”

One of the losers in the election, Bola Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos State and a national leader of the APC, has been identified as one of the forces that caused the APC and its candidate, Mr Ize-Iyamu, to lose the election.

A few days to the election, Mr Tinubu made and circulated a video wherein he called Mr Obaseki a dictator. He appealed to the Edo electorates to reject the governor at the polls. He also described himself as the leader of all democrats in the country, an appellation that angered some leading politicians and political observers in the country.

According to some commentators, the video irked a preponderance of Edo voters who further resolved that they would vote Mr Obaseki to disgrace Mr Tinubu. And they truly did, as they promised.

Luckily for Mr Obaseki, his supporters weaponised the video and used it massively to de-market the candidate of the APC, saying Edo is not Lagos.

Also, Kawu Sumaila, a former aide of President Muhammadu Buhari, says Hope Uzodinma cannot speak for the All Progressives Congress (APC) because the Imo state governor lacks knowledge of what the party stands for.

Speaking with reporters in Kano, Sumaila said Uzodinma did not know why APC was formed and was not there when the ruling party struggled in all its campaigns.

He asked the APC caretaker committee to look carefully into the crisis bedeviling the party from 2019 to date and bring all those who are responsible to book.

“I believe that it is high time the APC looked inwards and bring all those who caused the party into disrepute to book. They should pay for their misdeeds, and this should be from 2019 to date,” Sumaila said.

“Anybody who does not go with the party’s position should seek relevant legal attention.

“Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma’s ranting was nothing but unjust, because in the first place, the governor lacked knowledge of how and why APC was formed and he cannot speak for it.

“Hope Uzodinma was not there when APC struggled in all its campaigns and I had never seen him following President Buhari anywhere during the campaigns, so he lacks knowledge of what APC stands for and he cannot speak for it.”

Sumaila also accused Adams Oshiomhole, former national chairman of the APC, of leading the party to near collapse.

Other pundits believe also that aside other issues that visa ban imposed on those it called election riggers also helped as these restrictions were issued few days before the election.

The United States Government has said it had imposed visa restrictions on Nigerians involved in undermining democracy during the November 2019 Kogi and Bayelsa States elections and in the run-up to the September and October 2020 Edo and Ondo States elections.

This is according to a statement by spokesperson for the Department of State, Morgan Ortagus.

However, the US Government did not name the individuals or say how many were affected by the visa restrictions.

Although elections were not yet held in Edo and Ondo States as at then, the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, imposed the visa restrictions on these individuals due to their conduct in the run-up to the poll.

The statement reads, “In July 2019, we announced the imposition of visa restrictions on Nigerians who undermined the February and March 2019 elections. Today, the Secretary of State is imposing additional visa restrictions on individuals for their actions surrounding the November 2019 Kogi and Bayelsa States elections and in the run up to the September and October 2020 Edo and Ondo States elections.

“These individuals have so far operated with impunity at the expense of the Nigerian people and have undermined democratic principles.

“The Department of State emphasises that the actions announced today are specific to certain individuals and not directed at the Nigerian people. This decision reflects the Department of State’s commitment to working with the Nigerian government to realise its expressed commitment to end corruption and strengthen democracy, accountability, and respect for human rights.”

The US condemned the acts of violence, intimidation, or corruption that harmed Nigerians and undermined the democratic process.

“As the Edo and Ondo off-cycle elections near, we urge all stakeholders including the Independent National Electoral Commission, the political parties, and the security services, to uphold the tenets of democracy and facilitate genuinely free and fair elections, conducted in an appropriately transparent and non-violent manner,” the statement added.

Also the United Kingdom (UK) government has threatened to impose visa ban, carry out asset seizure, or even prosecute under international law, Nigerians, over election-related activities in the country.

The UK said it would take action against individuals who have been identified as being responsible for violence during the upcoming gubernatorial elections in Edo and Ondo States.

The disclosure is contained in a statement issued by the British High Commission in Abuja on Tuesday, September 15, 2020.

The statement from the UK government came barely a day after the United States government imposed a visa ban on some Nigerians over their roles in the rigging of the November 2019 Governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa States, and some others over their activities during the run-up to September and October 2020 Edo and Ondo States elections.

The UK government stated that as a friend and partner of Nigeria, it is closely following the lead up to the off-cycle governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States scheduled for September 19 and October 10 respectively. It noted that these elections are important, both as an essential element of effective governance within both states and an indicator of the strength of Nigeria’s democratic institutions.

Part of the British High Commission’s statement reads, “Our High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, has held meetings with leaders of the two main political parties, the APC and PDP. The discussions focused on the need for the parties’ leaders to prevail on supporters to avoid violence before and after the elections and we welcome the Edo candidates’ signature of the National Peace Committee and INEC convened peace accord today.

“We will be deploying observation missions to both the Edo and Ondo elections and supporting civil society led observation. The UK takes a strong stand against election-related violence and, just as we did in the general election in 2019, will continue to take action against individuals we identify as being responsible for violence during the elections. This could include restrictions on their eligibility to travel to the UK, restrictions on access to UK based assets or prosecution under international law.’’

The UK, however, said it would continue to provide support and engagement as they all move towards the elections.

They also urged INEC, the Police, and all other agencies involved to work together to deliver free, fair and credible elections.