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THE SUN SUMMIT
EDO: The godfather and the bohemian in a gritty battle
EDITED BY NOSIKE OGBUENYI
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
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Adams
Oshiomhole.
•Photo: Sun News Publishing |
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There is a gathering storm in Edo State. The storm forebodes an
imminent battle of wits for the political soul of the state. Pitted
against each other are the forces of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) commanded by a former Chairman of Board of Trustees (BoT)
of the party who is also a former Minister of Works, Chief Tony
Anenih and those of the ruling Action Congress (AC) in the state
led by the Comrade-Governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole.
The former is the acclaimed godfather of Edo politics while the
latter is a sabre-rattling bohemian shouting ‘no to godfatherism’.
Hemmed in within the middle of the flying darts and bullets is the
former military governor of defunct Midwest State, Brigadier-General
Samuel Ogbemudia. He was also elected governor of old Bendel State
on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria in 1983. Nosike
Ogbuenyi reports
Between Anenih and Oshiomhole
Recently, the first year anniversary of the administration of Edo
State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was marked in the state.
However, the event which was marked with pomp was a different thing
to different people in the state depending on which side of the
political divide they belong. For the state chapter of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) there was nothing for the administration
to celebrate as it has been largely a tale of leadership failure
and deceit of the people by the government of the day. But for Oshiomhole,
his supporters and the AC members, it was a revelry to celebrate
the liberation of the state from the jaws of avaricious godfathers
and other political mandarins that had allegedly held the state
hostage. Oshiomhole edged out PDP from the power stage in the state
via landmark election tribunal and Court of Appeal verdicts that
declared him the validly elected governor of the state at the expense
of the then sitting PDP governor, Professor Oserhiemen Osunbor.
He was sworn in on November 11, 2008 as governor of the state.
The latest battle line between Anenih and Ogbemudia started becoming
distinct about a month ago. The date precisely was Saturday October
24, 2009 at the Unification Rally of the PDP. The remark which Oshiomhole
latched on to fire at Anenih was made by the former Minister of
Works at the event. In his sppech, Chief Anenih said that Governor
Oshiomhole seemed not to know that there is a difference between
being a governor (that he is) and a labour leader (that he was).
Anenih also said he knew that PDP is in opposition and that the
PDP as the main opposition party would not hesitate to subject the
AC government to constructive criticism if the government does not
do well.
He counseled that rather than run from one state to the other sloganeering,
the governor should sit down and work for the state. Anenih also
declared that Edo belongs to the PDP and assured the PDP would recapture
the state in the 2012 governorship election. Many who watched
the well-attended Unification Rally, at the NTA Pavilion saw Anenih’s
pronouncement as a wake-up call on Oshiomhole to apply himself to
governance than to labour unionism tactics that would not conduce
to the development of the state.
But Oshiomhole and the AC would not let the debate end like that
to the advantage of Anenih and the PDP. They hit back and the brick-bats
that have upped political temperature in the state to dizzying levels
came flying from the two directions.
 Oshiomhole,
not being a person that would ignore a salvo no matter how benevolent,
rose to the challenge. In a riposte at an AC rally, a week
after the PDP Unification Rally, he descended on Anenih and the
PDP with the fury of a combatant labour activist that he is. He
used the forum to launch tirades at Anenih for providing a veritable
rallying point for the PDP in the state, in the face of AC’s
move to decimate it and rein in its control of power in the state.
Oshiomhole said that the man they call ‘Mr. Fix It’
(apparently referring to Anenih) had the opportunity of fixing the
Lagos-Ore-Benin road as Minister of Works and Housing, but could
not fix it; that he had the opportunity of fixing Uromi Road, but
could not; that he had the opportunity of fixing the dual carriage
way from Abuja to Edo but that it stopped in Kogi State; and that
as the Leader of his party he could not fix the problem within his
PDP family in Edo State. He said that the emergence of Chief
Dan Orbih as State Chairman of the party and his endorsement at
the Unification Rally were a charade, contending there was nowhere
an election was conducted to elect him.
There was even a mock coffin that was freely exhibited by Oshiomhole’s
supporters as he descended on the Uromi-born politician at the venue
raining insults on him.
PDP’s counter-offensive
The PDP did not take kindly to Oshiomhole’s jabs which landed
like those of a furious pugilist. The state PDP took the governor
to task by accusing him of exhibiting gross intolerance of criticisms
and public scrutiny in the face of his administration’s failure
to meet expectations.
For instance, the PDP took the Oshiomhole administration to task
by calling on it to account for the balance of N25 billion out of
the N52.32 billion which it received as statutory allocations and
internally generated revenue from November 2008 when Oshiomhole
took over to October 2009. The PDP threw the challenge after the
government said it saved N13.5 billion and spent N14.5 billion on
salaries and some capital projects.
The party which was reacting through its state chairman,
Chief Dan Orbih, said the administration had only succeeded in spreading
and consolidating poverty.
The newly installed Edo PDP chairman was not alone when he fired
back. He was accompanied by some chieftains of the party including
the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Zakarawu Garuba,
Senator Odion Ugbesia, former presidential adviser, Professor Julius
Ihonvbere, two members of the House of Representatives, Hons. Friday
Itulah and Johnson Abolagba. It was an outing calculated to exhibit
the strength and cohesion of the PDP as the largest and most powerful
party in the state. Orbih said the Oshiomhole government had patched
only 32 spots on roads contrary to its claim that it has rehabilitated
and constructed 32 roads.
He said the only thing to attribute to Governor Oshiomhole
in his first one year in office were demolition of poor masses’
structures without compensation to deserving victims, demarcation,
planting of flowers and few other cosmetic window works at alarming
costs.
“Oshiomhole’s consistent attack on former chairman
of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih was just a ploy
to shift attention away from the administration’s non-performance,”
Orbih, the PDP chairman hit back.
He said at the same time Oshiomhole was lambasting Chief Anenih,
his government was busy awarding contracts at scandalous rates for
the demarcation and planting of flowers at Ring Road in Benin City
and supply of cement for the project to emerging godfathers from
Lagos and Kano states, an action which he noted showed lack of faith
in the people of Edo.
“Come 2012, we promise Edo people a more purposeful
approach to governance…If we can endure the humiliation, frustration
and disillusionment of the past twelve months, I don’t see
any reason why we cannot be patient for the next thirty six months
when we shall have the franchise to place our political destiny
in our hands and which no electoral robbers will take away from
us again”, the PDP Chairman declared.
Defending Anenih’s tenure as Minister of Works, he contended
within the little resources available to him, some notable roads
, including the Benin Bye-Pass expressway were done by him. Before
the bye-pass was constructed, he recalled that before it was built,
people going to or coming from the eastern part of the country always
spent their nights including Christmas on transit in traffic gridlocks
inside Benin-City. He equally alluded to the Benin-Asaba dualized
Road and the dualization of Benin-Sapele-Warri Road as part of Anenih’s
legacies.
Where is Ogbemudia standing?
In the midst of the festering crisis pitching Oshiomhole and his
AC against the PDP and its most venerated leader, Anenih, the two-time
governor of old Midwest region and Bendel state, Dr. Samuel Osaigbovo
Ogbemudia has landed on the chopping block of his party, PDP. There
are even speculations that he is on the verge of defecting from
PDP to AC which he has denied. Ogbemudia stirred the hornet’s
nest following his controversial attendance and remarks during the
celebration of the first year anniversary of the administration
of Oshiomhole.
The former military and later civilian governor had described the
AC governor as the man sent by God to rescue and lead Edo State
to the promised land.
At the event where a public lecture was delivered by Nobel Laureate,
Professor Wole Soyinka to mark the one year anniversary, Ogbemudia
described Oshiomhole’s achievements in the past one year as
a good “accomplishment,” saying that the governor was
not expected to complete four-year programme in one year.
While hailing Oshiomhole as a detribalized leader, Ogbemudia
asked the enthusiastic crowd comprising mainly of AC supporters:
“Is there any reason why we cannot all take refuge under one
roof and develop Edo State?”
Expectedly, many who were present at the Oba Akenzua Cultural
Centre, venue of the event, interpreted Dr. Ogbemudia’s remark
as a possible move to join political forces with Oshiomhole soon,
more so as the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) member pointed out that
the development of Edo would be faster if all joined hands together.
Ogbemudia going by the manner he eulogized the governor was like
a lone PDP wolf present at the occasion which was a rally of sorts
by AC and opposition chiefs. Top opposition guns in attendance included
former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor
Olusegun Mimiko of Odo State, Chief Bisi Akande, Chief Edwin Clark,
former governors, Chief John Oyegun (Edo), Chief Olusegun Osoba
(Ogun), and Dr. Chris Ngige (Anambra).who is also the governorship
candidate of AC in Anambra State. Others include Alhaji Balarabe
Musa, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Comrade Abdulwaheed
Omar and Chief Tom Ikimi.Sensing that his loud presence at the anniversary
might cause a serious doubt on his loyalty to PDP while the rumours
swirled that he has already resolved to defect to the AC, Ogbemudia
moved swiftly to wriggle out of the tight corner he had boxed himself.
He did that by denying his membership of the AC contending that
as one of the founding fathers of the PDP, he remains a loyal member
of the party and has no intention of quitting the PDP.
Ogbemudia in a statement issued by his Special Assistant, Mr. Iro
Omorodion, debunked rumours that he was now a member of the AC because
of his romance with the Oshiomhole administration. He said since
leaving office, he had always played a fatherly role to successive
administrations in the state irrespective of their political leanings.
According to the statement, he was invited to the ceremonies by
the state government as a former governor, arguing that other Nigerians
who were not AC members also attended the celebrations.
Ogbemudia further recalled that when there was impasse between the
Federal Government and ASUU, the President invited Governor Oshiomhole
to mediate in the crisis, stressing that the gesture did not make
Oshiomhole a PDP member. He noted that when some members of the
PDP served in the administration of Governor Oshiomhole as commissioners,
there was no hue and cry because development of the state was greater
than any individual.
On why Ogbemudia did not attend the PDP rally held a week earlier,
Omorodion explained that the former governor made his stand clear
that “it was premature since the crisis within the party was
yet to be finally resolved”. According to him, Ogbemudia has
since written the National Chairman of the party, Prince Vincent
Ogbulafor, on harmonization and consolidation of Edo State PDP,
promising that shortly the crisis will be over.
Ogbemudia seems to be turning into Edo’s most prominent AGIP
(any government in power). He was the biggest lounge lizard of the
administration of Osunbor and seems to be warming himself into the
same role under the Oshiomhole government despite the fact that
they belong to different political parties.
Oshiomhole’s survival game
Oshiomhole leaves no one in doubt that he is out to entrench himself
and the AC in the state in order to forestall PDP’s return
to power in both the 2012 governorship election and the 2011 state
and National Assembly elections in the state. After attaining one
year in office as governor of Edo State, Oshiomhole has been battling
to explain why some of his earlier promises and the expectations
of the people may no longer be realistic in the short run.
One of Oshiomhole’s catch-words is his frequent declaration
that he is on a mission to rescue the state from the vice-like grip
of godfathers whom he alleged had held the state hostage for years.
He gives that as the explanation for crossing paths with the PDP
power brokers in the state marshaled by Anenih.
But the PDP pooh-poohs him in the area of his alleged below par
performance after one year in the saddle as governor. The Oshiomhole
administration has its excuses for the somewhat slow pace of development
in the state. It identifies one of the biggest headaches as the
fact that the administration came into power at a time the global
economic meltdown began to take its toll on the country thereby
whittling down federal allocations to states considerably. Oshiomhole
thus argues that monthly allocations to Edo State, which peaked
at about N4 billion during the ousted administration of his predecessor,
Professor Oserhiemen Osunbor of PDP, slumped to as low as N1.6 billion
when the AC government came on board.
Explaining the efforts of the administration, Oshiomhole said it
had decided to lay an enduring foundation for infrastructural provision
in the state. “I called Julius Berger to come to Edo State
and help us solve the problem of flooding in Benin and the company
told me that before any construction firm could lay hands on any
road construction, it would have to get a design. And, to get a
design, they said there ought to be a master plan.“So, Benin
has a master plan, but successive governments have disregarded it.
That is why we have all the rot in infrastructure, especially in
the area of roads, which my administration inherited. Initially,
I thought that Berger was being impossible. I invited PW and they
told me the same thing. We have seen what Hi-Tech is doing in Lagos.
So, we invited them too. They also insisted on the master plan.“
The AC governor said that at that point, his administration decided
to contact “a South African engineering firm to produce a
master plan for us. As soon as we have that, we will begin the extensive
work on our roads and address the flood challenge,” he promised.
Oshiomhole stated that despite mounting criticisms from the PDP,
his government has the support of majority of the people, adding
that the support received from the people on the demolition of illegal
structures the government embarked upon could attest to this. He
said, for instance, that many people, on their own volition, dismantled
illegal structures they put in place stressing that that was possible
because the government had led by example.
The governor expressed the optimism that in three years time, “the
glory of Benin City and entire Edo State would have been totally
restored. Edo has put politics of godfathers behind it. It is now
on the path of prosperity… We will achieve every good dream
we have for Edo. Come here in three years time, you will see why
we need true people-based democracy in this country. Our glory in
Edo will have been restored.”
The coming battle
As things stand now, the political scale in the state appears slightly
tilted in favour of the PDP. All three senators and all nine members
of the House of Representatives are PDP members. Also, all the 18
Local Government Chairmen were PDP members, until the recent first
year anniversary event of the Oshiomhole administration when six
of them defected to the AC. In the state House of Assembly, the
PDP currently has a slim majority.
From the way Oshiomhole spoke at the anniversary rally, it is clear
that he considers Anenih a huge obstacle to his second term ambition
and the entrenchment of AC in the state. Ogbemudia already looks
pliable.
As the clock ticks inexorably towards 2011 and 2012, only time will
tell who will carry the day between Anenih/PDP and Oshiomhole’s
AC in Edo as the offensives and counteroffensives between the two
sides continue to rage. The issues on card and on stake revolve
round performance and political control in Edo State.
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