For the past five months since the verdict of the Edo Tribunal, Edo State has been under a political spell of propaganda instead of governance.

At the slightest provocation, the expired government of Professor Osunbor is quick to mount the soapbox to drum it loud that he enjoys the support of the people of Edo even when the verdict of the tribunal spoke a different tone.

But for our circuitous and windy judicial process, Osunbor's short reign would have been past tense in the political economy of the State and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party would have been made to eat the humble pie in the affairs of governance in the State.

How can the Judiciary in all seriousness, in this millennia ages with all the beauty of reforms and re-orientation waste five months before constituting an electoral appeal panel to look into the grounds of appeal of the defeated PDP candidate? How then would the Judiciary insulate itself from the criticism that the Appeal Court is actually the Black Sheep of the Judiciary family?

A verdict was handed down on March 20th, 2008 and in August, we are yet to situate the exact position of the Appeal Court on the matter, yet somebody wants me to believe that bridges of understanding are not being built where no river flows? I have tried to rationalize the delay within the thinking that the Appeal Court might also be suffering from the same manpower shortfall, but events in government circles have proved to me that there is so much going on than meets the eye.

This delay is no longer inadvertent but certainly a well rehearsed escape drama plot to whittle down Oshiomole's infectious popularity with a view to hoodwinking the hapless Edo State people that the man's mandate has been affected by the passage of time. Well,thank God the appeal court has suddenly found the courage to set up the panel which is days to go ,full blast in the weeks a head.

There are curious theories and possibilities that are flying around government circles in Edo State today. Apart from the interesting dimensions which the PDP crisis in Edo has assumed, which also has its own elemental theme of caution, every thing about the tribunal case is being discussed in a manner that suggests that the PDP is executing a plot of outright cancellation of the elections. In their short-sighted thinking, they want Edo and Ondo to go the way of Sokoto, Adamawa, Kogi, and lately Cross River.

The Osunbor led Edo State PDP wants an outright cancellation so that the Party can re-invent its mysterious and utterly dangerous rigging streak to return people through the back door and in the process add more years to a man who did not merit to govern in the first place. My queries are in multiple folds. One, if Osunbor was actually convinced of his 'victory' at the elections, why this latest lobby and palpable air of 'let the tribunal cancel the election' as if that is where his salvation lies?

Two, why will the Osunbor group contemplate that using propaganda would solve a purely electoral and judicial matter which had nullified his election at the first instance? Three, why does anyone in his right senses think that Osunbor should be given the opportunity to continue simply because he has tarred a few roads and fixed a few culverts? The point at issue here is between illegitimate and legitimate mandate. The tribunal, in its wisdom confessed that Osunbor's victory and results in some Local Governments were actually falsified and that the number of votes recorded for him runs foul of the law.

As a Professor of Law, I had expected that he would appreciate the intellectuality of the judgment, but for those who understand power to be a crazy aphrodisiac, we are not surprised at Osunbor's resort to propaganda. Surely, no matter the trend of thoughts, propaganda does not create a brand new environment or thought-process, it only builds on what obtains and tries to rationalize the conclusions.

Why it is difficult for the PDP messengers to make an impression is that even in their heart of hearts they know that Comrade Oshiomole won the election. Propaganda has its own limitations. It has its beauty if the thoughts are weaved in some convincing manners as to unveil the truth, but certainly not in the way and manner that individuals are being 'hired' to go and say something to massage the ego of Prof. Osunbor.

Barely two months ago, I watched with pains the level at which poverty can plunge a man. It was on AIT Matters Arising programme which featured my Party's Edo State Chairman, Pastor Charles Osadolor Okunbor, where he tried to use all the scintillating adjectives in his dictionary to loathe and bath Osunbor with, at least for some recognition. At first, I had thought he was just trying to express his inalienable right to own an opinion until I placed a call across to him. My conversation with him exposed the inner workings of the PDP and by extension the government in Edo State. Number one, NDP is purely an opposition Party.

Even where we have cause to support any ruling Party, there has to be justifiable reason to do so, certainly not for porridge. Number two, NDP would not support a Governor simply because of a few tarred roads or for fixing some culverts and drainages. There should be more altruistic purpose and approach to governance than mere physical benchmarks as the hallmark of governance. A government that is people-driven does not require any form of salesmanship to make an impression.

The people will naturally feel the impact of such government if it is performance-driven. This is why I frowned at the position taken by our Edo State Chapter of the Party and his Fresh Party counterpart that life should not be by bread and butter alone. Not at all. Once a mandate has been pronounced to be illegitimate, it has to be so treated. It will be unassailable for PDP to think that propaganda can fetch them the governorship in Edo State.

It is with similar disdain that I read and assimilated the utter rubbish that former Edo State Deputy Governor Reverend Obadan vomited on the pages of The Sun newspaper where he stated that Comrade Adams Oshiomole does not enjoy the mandate of Edo people and by extension cannot govern the state. From the above insinuations and permutations, one thing that continues to fire my own confidence is that members of the Appeal panel would be drawn from the same Nigeria society that is already familiar with the talk in town. If the Appeal decides to do the PDP biddings, it would have confirmed the fears of the public about the on-going undercurrents. If the Appeal goes the way of Oshiomole, it will have confirmed the well learned position of the tribunal Judges who took pains to analyse all the evidences before arriving at their rule of law decision. And this is the expectations of everyone.