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Primary crises confront Edo PDP, APC, and LP ahead of the government election
The major political parties in Edo State had their primary elections recently to select their nominees for the governorship runoff on September 21. The results were disorganised, dramatic at times, and difficult to understand. Tension in the race was caused by certain candidates' apparent partiality towards favouring certain candidates over others, even if some wanted to win at all costs.
Discontent among party executives, candidates, and members spread to all political parties, including the Labour Party, the Peoples Democratic Party, and the All Progressives Congress.
All of the political parties' primaries were preceded by events that gave a sense of what to expect: party executives disintegrated, candidates quarrelled, and party members and aspirants lost faith in the executive's ability to conduct credible, free, and fair elections that would yield deserving candidates.
Governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shaibu, were once friendly but now have strained relations over the selection of the party's nominee, which hurt the ruling PDP. Shaibu has been expelled from the Government House, and the weekly devotion he led at the government house chapel has been discontinued due to renovations. Since then, he has moved the prayer session inside his new workspace.
Obaseki and Shaibu had a bond that could have passed for brotherhood if they hadn't broken up in the middle of the previous year. Obaseki was often with Shaibu in various fora, grinning from ear to ear, and Shaibu referred to Obaseki as his elder brother. Obaseki trusted Shaibu so much that he gave his deputy control over both state sports and local government. Sports received the necessary development under Shaibu's careful management, and the state's local government areas gradually increased their earnings.
In their fight for the "throne," they also faced off against Adam Oshiomhole, a former state governor. They used everything they had because they thought Oshiomhole was being too controlling and they needed to rein him in. Actually, Oshiomhole's neighbour Shaibu was more outspoken in criticising Oshiomhole's ambition to be the godfather, which he opposed while serving as governor.
With all of this, it was shocking when Obaseki and Shaibu split up because of the latter's desire to become the state governor instead of his boss. The governor, however, supported and favoured Asue Ighodalo, a former chairman of Sterling Bank from Edo Central, who afterwards became the party’s candidate.
In a parallel election, however, supporters of Shaibu named the deputy governor the party's candidate prior to Ighodalo being proclaimed the winner at the primaries held on February 22 at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium. The disgruntled followers of Shaibu said they were not granted permission to attend the congress at the stadium. The problem may not end even after Ighodalo received his certificate of return from the party secretariat in Abuja since Shaibu has promised to follow through on the directive from the "authentic party delegates."
Shaibu urged everyone to remain calm as he addressed the delegations participating in the protest. I want everyone to be safe and happy, and I don't want anyone to be harmed with the way you have conducted yourselves peacefully and have come to report to me that you were not allowed to be accredited but I want to tell you that no one man can determine the destiny of a people and by the grace of God they cannot disenfranchise you people.
"It is evident from the legislation that you are the legitimate delegates. They want to go and replace you now that they've pushed you aside, but I can guarantee you that your vote counts and that they are unable to change your names. You must maintain your composure in all that you do, but I promise to bring your protest before the upcoming committee.
Later that day, Shaibu claimed to reporters, "I asked who the people in the crowd were when I noticed them outside, and they said they were delegates." I suggested that they be sent to the accreditation venue, but they objected, claiming that they were protesting being removed from the accreditation venue even though they had won the delegate election at the ward level.”
However, the Edo State PDP chairman, Tony Aziegbemi said that what Shaibu did with his supporters was senseless and not worthy of his comment. He said, “What he did with his supporters was senseless. I don’t really know what he thought he was doing. Such action is not worthy of my comment,” he added.
Before the primary, the other PDP aspirants had expressed worry over the way the ward and national delegate congresses were done by the state exco in conjunction with the party’s National Working Committee to allegedly favour Ighodalo. And when he emerged with 577 votes with Shaibu and Anslem Ojezua getting a vote apiece at the primary held at the stadium, their initial fears may not have been misplaced.
On election day, Omosede Igbinedion resigned to support Ighodalo, while Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, a prominent contender, withdrew from the contest and attributed his decision to anomalies and a corrupt procedure by the party's NWC.
It required some sort of divine force to keep people from dying, therefore the APC congress ended up being the most difficult and disorderly. All 192 of the state's wards participated in the first election, which was held on February 17. Results were beginning to arrive at the Lushville Hotel and Suite, which was set aside for their compilation and announcement, around midday. Results from eight local government areas were released by the returning officer, Stanley Ugboaja, with Senator Monday Okpebholo leading and House of Representatives member Dennis Idahosa coming in second.
Reporters covering the event were attacked before they could collect their equipment and work tools together, and just as Ugboaja was calling for a break, suspected political thugs stormed the site, halting the live broadcast. Manhandled and their equipment destroyed were a number of journalists, including a reporter for Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria and an NTA cameraman. The thugs persisted in their free-for-all notwithstanding the presence of Funsho Adeboye, the state commissioner of police.
Even more confusion arose when Dennis Idahosa was declared the winner by Governor Hope Uzodinma, the chairman of the primary electoral committee, at the Protea Hotel. Meanwhile, returning officer Stanley Ugboaja declared Monday Okpebholo the winner after concluding the announcement at the home of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, who had withdrawn from the race on February 16. Also, Ojo Babatunde, who claimed to be representing the returning officers in all the local government areas declared Anamero Dekeri as the winner of the election.
On February 19, when the party's youth leader Tony Adun, also known as Kabaka, rallied women and youth to seize control of the party secretariat, mayhem broke out. The throng pushed its way into the offices, removing chairs, rice bags, and other objects while announcing that they would remain there for seven days or until the exco was disbanded.
Adun claimed that they were criticising the behaviour of the party officials during the primary election, which produced three winners, and that it was clear the executive committee was biassed against the party.
"It is evident that the party executive in the state is no longer functioning in the party's interest, hence it is time for them to leave. We are here in solidarity with Hon. Dennis Idahosa who the party has nominated. We call on party members to back Idahosa’s candidacy in the governorship election in September.
“As you can see, we are here in large numbers, youths, and women, to show our displeasure over the way the exco handled the election.
“I want to send a message to the National Working Committee that since the state Working Committee can disobey what the NWC wanted, they need to be suspended from the party and if that is not done, nobody will enter this secretariat again,” he added.
To ensure calm returns to the party in the state, the NWC ordered a rerun on February 22, with the Governor of Cross Rivers State as chairman of the Electoral Committee. The rerun produced Okpebholo as the party flagbearer. Idahosa came second. Idahosa is contesting the result and there have been protests in Abuja and Benin in support of Idahosa. In a swift U-turn, the youth leader of the party apologised for the disruption that took place on February 17 and expressed his support for Okpebholo.
The Labour Party primaries seem to be the most chaotic and full of drama with four people laying claim to the party governorship ticket.
While the Julius Abure faction was declaring a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olumide Akpata, as its governorship candidate on February 23 after he defeated the like of Kenneth Imasuagbon and Sergius Ogun to the ticket, the Lamidi Apapa faction in a letter dated February 22 addressed to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission submitted the names of Anderson Asemota and Monday Mawah as the LP governorship candidate and running mate.
However, in another twist on February 25, a United Kingdom-based legal practitioner, Hilton Idahosa announced himself as the party’s third factional candidate, stating that the election of February 22 under the Apapa faction was postponed till February 24, which he won.
Also, Imasuangbon who lost the Julius Abure-led faction ticket to Akpata on Tuesday accused the leadership of the party of skewing the primary in favour of Akpata. He also called on the leaders of the party to declare h