From all indications, Edo State is witnessing fresh issues which may shake the popularity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its supporters in the state ahead of the next election in 2023. Though the state is no stranger to such a crisis, the current development in the home state of democrats like the late Pa Anthony Enahoro who moved the motion for Nigeria’s independence and several other democrats is believed to portend grave consequences for the party.
While the party is yet to recover from the fragmentation which emanated from the runoff to the 2020 governorship election, it is now a reference point that the state has operated for about four years without a full complement of its lawmakers, the crucible of democracy, in the House of Assembly since 2019. Daily the hope of the remaining House of Assembly members loyal to Oshiomhole gets dimmer.
Since Governor Godwin Obaseki’s rancorous reelection on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which emanated from his battle with his godfather, Adams Oshiomhole, the state has failed to constitute his cabinet, calling the bluff of party leaders who worked assiduously for him. Whereas the action queried the party’s democratic disposition and the involvement of the people in the governance of the state, the governor’s failure to constitute his cabinet about a year after his reelection is generating bad blood among party chieftains and other leaders in the state.
The non-constitution of his cabinet is contrary to the provisions of section 192 (1) of the 1999 Constitution which states that “there shall be such offices of the Commissioner of Government of a state to be established by the governor of the state.” This constitutional provision envisaged the vital role of plurality of expertise, skills and competences for which every state is richly endowed for the smooth operation and governance in order to rig development to the people in a participatory democracy.
Worse still, government agencies and parastatals in the oil-rich state with population of over four million adults and children have been dissolved ad this exclusion has created disaffection among the party at the wards, local governments and at the state levels, such that they are currently about their stance in the party. The State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Chris Nehikhare attributed the delay to government’s currents efforts to clear the rot in the state civil service, employ and train the staff in line with the governor’s dreams and aspiration before new commissioners could assume office.
He regretted that the reorganizations has taken so long, but added that posterity will judge the governor for taking a stand that will position the state on the part of success, adding that party members who worked for the election of the governor should understand that their individual interest, important as they are, cannot supersede that of the general interest of the generality of the people if the state.
However, some party leaders across the state found it inconceivable that the governor who enjoyed bipartisan support which rooted for his second-term bid along with his Deputy, Hon Philip Shaibu, could leave them without compensation after the election. Hence when information which was found to be untrue filtered into the online media during the week that Shaibu was defecting from the party, there were jubilations on his streets in the state in a manner reminiscent of the victory dance in the state after last year’s election.
Responding to the development on a television interview during the week, Shaibu said the cabinet will soon be constituted to the benefits of the people. A longtime ally of Oshiomhole, after serving as Majority Leader in the Edo House of Assembly, he was elected into the House of Representatives, as a federal lawmaker representing Federal Constituency in the House for 18 months, where he built a political pedigree.
In the run off to the governorship election in Edo State, especially during Obaseki’s faceoff with his godfather, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and the consequent disqualification, Shaibu remained loyal to Obaseki, expressing readiness to sink with him, where necessary. “Oshiomhole wanted me to join him knowing that I was close to the members-elect then of the Edo State House of Assembly. This was because I spent eight years as a member of the Edo State House of Assembly and about 18 months in the House of Representatives. I have goodwill among the lawmakers because of my own style.
“He wanted me to use this goodwill that I have to remove the governor and succeed him and I said no, because it is not in my nature to betray anyone. If I did not betray Oshiomhole when I was NANS president and he was NLC president, when I was offered money to get Nigerian students out of the planned strike then, and I did not betray him when I was chased with money and a plot of land in Maitama, Abuja, to support his impeachment when I was in the state assembly, then I cannot betray my own governor.
“I became an activist because of my hatred for oppression. If you check my records during the military rule, I was part of the struggle for this democracy and Oshiomhole had the plans for the House of Assembly. All these members of the House were not those who won the APC primaries, but Oshiomhole got up and replaced all of them.” Now that the PDP in Edo state appears troubled, I strongly believe that rather than resorting to mudslinging and name calling, political leaders, the governor and PDP leadership should ensure that democratic and constitutional provisions are followed in the state to the benefit of the peace loving people of Edo.
Olague, a journalist and political analyst, writes in from Benin-City