When shortly before the April, 2007 general elections, President Olusegun Obasanjo propounded his do or-die election theory, many people got the import of the message which the then PDP Board of Trustees Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, tried to explain to journalists in Benin, the Edo State capital.

Chief Anenih, who had led his party members to the Edo State NUJ Council Secretariat to formally present the party’s flag bearer, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor and his running mate, Mr. Lucky Imasuen in the April 14, 2007 gubernatorial election for Edo State, had attempted to interpret what President Obasanjo meant, as a way to douse public condemnation of the then sitting president.

Obasanjo, Chief Anenih explained, did not mean a shooting war, he was merely saying that he must win. He then asked: “How can it be said that the president lost election, in his Ogun State? Gentlemen, how can I lose election in Edo State? If I do, I will be dead politically and I don’t want to die politically. So I must win.”

How the April, 2007 general elections were massively and violently rigged in line with Obasanjo’s do-or-die theory is now history. What is new and good news, are pronouncements coming from the various State Election Petition Tribunals, many of which have had the courage to do what is right and just.
Edo State was no exception in the wide-spread rigging that characterised the April, 2007 general elections in the country, and so, when the Action Congress (AC) standard bearer, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole and his party felt rigged out in the election which from all predictions indicated that they would win, they decided to take their case to the tribunal.

Prior to the stage of going to court, Oshiomhole had repeatedly at campaign rallies drummed it loud that he would “bury Chief Anenih politically” and that he and his party have the capacity to defend the people’s votes.

At the tribunal, the kernel of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and AC’s petition was that they scored the highest number of lawful votes during the April 14, 2007 Governorship election in Edo State, and should therefore be returned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In the alternative, the petitioners asked the tribunal to nullify the election and order a fresh one by reason of corrupt practices such as multiple registration and voting, stuffing and snatching of ballot boxes, rigging and violence which characterized the election, contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2006.
Since the landmark judgement in which Oshiomhole was given victory, there has been celebration in Edo State, particularly Benin City, occasioning long traffic jams.

Commenting on the judgement, a prominent Benin Chief, Chief David Edebiri, the Esogban of Benin said: “It shows that there is hope in the Nigerian project”, adding that the judgement “is judgement from God”.
According to him, “it pays to be honest. Whatever anybody does with fraud is bound to have bad effect”.
This is a landmark judgement which is bound to have effect in the political landscape of Edo and the whole country. It shows that there is still justice somewhere, that the judiciary has not gone back on its resolve to build confidence in the citizenry.”