• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Obaseki’s victory shows voters are tired of ‘godfathers’

Obaseki

Godwin Obaseki, the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the 2020 Edo Governorship election has been declared winner with about 85,000 more votes than his closest challenger, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, of the All Progressive Congress (APC), in an election where voters said they are fed up with meddlesome “godfathers” in Nigerian politics.

Several factors have been blamed for the failure of the party that controls the Federal Government, had the biggest financial war chest and grassroot advantage having been in power in the state since 2008, chief among them is an electorate tired of scheming “godfathers” perceived to maintain a chokehold on the governor.

Adams Oshiomhole, the swashbuckling former labour leader and governor of the state, may have ruined Ize-Iyamu’s chances by turning him to a spectator in his own show. It became difficult to define what Ize-Iyamu stood for under the blinding sheen of Oshiomhole, whose foray into national politics has left a smudge on his reputation at home. Ize-Iyamu paid the price of tethering his ambition on the back of a spent force.

The phrase “Edo no be Lagos” trended over social media over the past week, a reference to Bola Tinubu, the APC national leader’s unilateral scheme to replace former governor Akinwunmi Ambode with Babajide Sanwo Olu, ruining his second term ambition. Sanwo Olu won the election despite the electorate, bequeathing Lagos, the shameful reputation of claiming to be ‘progressive’, yet under the thumb of one man.

Last week, Tinubu made a misguided broadcast urging Edo people to vote for his party. To a people who bravely fought oppression from Europeans hundreds of years ago, it sounded like an affront. This galvanised those who otherwise would not have come near a polling booth vow to rescue their state from external influence. Political “godsons” take note, it’s the people that have the power, they will save you if you serve them.

However, the election was not perfect. Observers reported widespread vote-buying by both the APC and the PDP. Only 25 percent of those who registered to vote actually turned up at the polling units. The optics of the Rivers state governor meddling in the process was bad for the election. There were some cases of meddling by security agencies and poor use of technology even as the country is in the throes of a deadly pandemic.

Overall, the election, happening off-season witnessed better preparation by a characteristically shoddy electoral umpire. Materials and personnel reportedly arrived early in many voting centers. Security agencies largely resisted the temptation to compromise the election and the Federal Government did not unduly interfere in the process.

Some have attributed the relatively peaceful conduct of the election to the threat by the United States to deny visas to those who promote violence in the election. It is not clear how much of a deterrent this was, but many are now urging foreign governments to do more including asset forfeiture for those who terrorize Nigeria’s elections. Nothing gets the attention of our perfidious politicians than the prospect that they could be stuck in this hellhole they have reduced the country to, with the rest of us.

However, we are convinced that the victory is largely because the Edo people decided to take their own fate in their hands. They chose to provide a collective rebuke to people who through threats and intimidation cripple a governor’s chances for success. The governor’s own record of modest accomplishments justified another term.

The APC in Edo State allowed the outsized ambition of Oshiomhole to corrode its influence in the Niger Delta. It unwisely kicked out one of its best governors, who in four years have attracted industries and investments including a modular refinery, industrial hub, and a power plant.

True in many parts of the world, people do not win an election solely by their own effort. There are private and institutional donors to campaigns, volunteers who persuade voters and support the campaign in various ways. In exchange some lobby for appointments, a concession to promote a cause, change/pass a law but rarely seek financial gain.

This is not the case in Nigeria. The “godfathers” here are rapacious and nihilistic. Late Lamidi Adedibu, the erstwhile strong man of Ibadan politics, was locked in a fierce battle with his protégé, Rasheed Ladoja in 2004, over government appointees and allocations.

Since then, “godfathers” have become tin gods, insisting on cornering choice contracts (which are never executed), choosing the governor’s cabinet, and propping their children as their protégé’s successor. Worse still, some are using the resources exploited from their protégés to buy influence in other states and at the national level.

We congratulate the people of Edo State and Godwin Obaseki. It is now up to the good people of Edo state to hold their governor to account.