Party politics and its contentions are never a straightforward affair, especially in this clime. This is best exemplified by the imbroglio involving Godwin Obaseki’s invaders and the traditional structure of the PDP in Edo State. Imagine for a second that you were appointed a judge to objectively determine the guilty faction and perhaps work out how best to reconcile the warring parties in the interest of governance, which has since been relegated to the insignificant background in the battle of the hungry godfathers.
Who gets the guilty charge? Is it the PDP for taking 30 shekels of silver and offering its ticket to a foreign individual, throwing the ambition of longstanding members under the bus in the process; or Obaseki for first abusing a platform he was handed based primarily on the sterling performance and recommendation of his predecessor, and secondly for taking advantage of the greed-induced ignorance of the PDP who entered an agreement without implementable records of eventual “sharing formula”?
You will agree that such a trial will be murky and intricate, even if the verdict will predictably vindicate no one. From Obaseki to Aziegbemi to Tom Ikimi and other exhumed political wraiths who are enjoying newfound (but momentary) relevance, there is neither hero nor saint. Theirs is a tale of different villains joined at the hip by a convenient and selfish deal turned sour, with the innocent victims being the people of Edo State.
That said however, some political matters are easy to dissect to reach a reasonable and uncomplicated conclusion. One of such cases is the quiet rumor of Obaseki’s attempt to escape the ruins and chaos he has wrought in the PDP by sneaking back to the APC, and the definitive conclusion being that he should never be let back into the fold of the progressives, if the word ‘progressive’ is to retain any real meaning.
What is presently playing out in the PDP, the devious scheming and widespread hostility, conducted in a climate of violence characterized by threats of assassinations, are clear evidence – or reminder, in case anyone has forgotten – of what it means to have a character like Obaseki join or lead a political party. He is an incompetent and divisive figure, weirdly animated by escalating feuds wherein he sets group against group, people against people to form a toxic environment marked by egregious abuse of rights and unbridled chaos.
Less than a year into his second term, he has not only successfully ripped apart the party he recently joined but has also financed a dangerous and unproductive ethnic rivalry in the state and media over who will succeed him, should he manage to hold on to power until 2024. He has achieved all of these, but hasn’t found the time, energy, or wisdom to assemble a cabinet. The mention of his MEGA agenda, like the phantom 200,000 jobs that preceded it, is met with scorn and sighs of regret in all parts of the state. He has failed the people (again) and his emergency allies. Is this the credential of a ‘progressive’? Certainly not.
For four years, the Edo State Chapter of the APC endured Obaseki’s horrible and traumatic leadership, his tyrannical knees placed firmly on the necks of all to snuff life out of members – quite literally. The bullet holes are still in the home and office of party leaders such as Secretary Lawrence Okah and Barrister Henry Idahagbon who both survived assassination attempts that shook the state, but met a deafening – and telling – silence from the Obaseki-led state government.
The state chapter is still healing from Obaseki’s polarization and wicked stretching of fault lines, as he is presently doing in the PDP. Similarly too, the national structure has barely turned the corner from the turbulence that occasioned the governor’s eventual exit, as some in the party offered him sympathy even if, true to character, he rewarded them quite handsomely with brazen and insidious attacks on the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari.
Only a few weeks ago, Obaseki branded the All Progressives Congress and every single leader elected on its platform, especially the President, as “lawless” and “indiscipline” characters who “mismanaged” the economy and contributed to insecurity. In a pointed attack on President Buhari, he accused him of lacking the capacity to govern and, most alarmingly, inspiring economic inflation by instructing the CBN to go on an unrestrained printing of the legal tender.
None of these accusations are true, if any such clarification needs to be made. But Obaseki, in a cold and calculated manner, chose the sensitive topics of the economy and security to cause reputation damage to the President and APC, and create a chasm between the central government and the people.
Accepting such a man back, no matter the eventual justification offered, will not only be a validation of these vicious attacks on the President and the APC, but it would also amount to settling for a cheap, fleeting, pyrrhic feeling of victory when a real and comprehensive one is both at hand and achievable.
Obaseki may be further muddied in his pig-fight with the PDP, but a fight between pigs is never a reason to remove them from the mud and place them in the living room. The Governor is exactly where he belongs, amongst people of no character. If the APC is truly desirous of power in Edo State, there remains a legal and viable avenue to achieve this aim. The party should throw its weight behind this and back loyal members who have made tremendous sacrifices, not provide succor to a treacherous and shameless person who is only looking for another platform to infect with his poisonous presence.