- PDP, APC clear 23 aspirants
- APC rakes in N650m from forms
Ahead of the September 21 Edo State governorship election, the People’s Democratic Party has cleared its 10 aspirants to participate in the party’s primary election scheduled for February 22.
One of the 10 aspirants will emerge as the party’s flag bearer for the main election on September 21.
All efforts by the APC to reduce its governorship aspirants to six failed as 13 persons eventually bought the forms.
On Monday, the PDP Screening Committee, headed by the Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, screened the 10 PDP aspirants at the party’s national headquarters, popularly called Wadata Plaza in Abuja.
Mutfwang, after the screening, reassured the aspirants that the party would ensure fairness for all contestants and emphasized the PDP’s commitment to winning the Edo governorship poll.
On Tuesday, the PDP National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, disclosed to journalists that the screening committee endorsed all the 10 aspirants to slug it out in the February 22 primary.
Bature, shortly after presenting the Provisional Clearance Certificate to the aspirants, stated, “All 10 aspirants were cleared to contest.”
The PDP aspirants are the Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu; a former Chairman of Sterling Bank, Asue Ighodalo; and Blessing Igbinedion, daughter of Esama of Benin Kingdom, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion.
Other aspirants are Anselm Ojezua, Felix Akhabue, Martin Uhomoibhi, Umoru Hadizat, Osaro Onaiwu, Arthur Esene and Omoregie Ihama.
Meanwhile, the APC has realised N650 million from the sale of forms which closed on Monday.
The APC Nomination Form was sold for N40m, while the Expression of Interest Form was N10m. However, the party made the Expression of Interest Form free for female aspirants and those with disabilities.
According to a schedule of activities for the Edo governorship election released by the APC, the sale of Nomination and Expression of Interest and Delegates Forms ended on January 29.
The APC will elect its flag bearer for the governorship race at a primary election to be held on February 17.
The APC had set up a committee as an internal mechanism to screen and prune down the 29 aspirants who initially showed interest to a manageable level to ensure a rancour-free primary election.
Consequently, the committee pruned the number of aspirants from 29 to 10, and subsequently to six, with two aspirants from each of the three senatorial districts.
It further pruned the list to four with two each from Edo Central and Edo South senatorial districts, screening out those from Edo North senatorial district.
But most of the aspirants rejected the decision and rather went ahead to purchase the forms.
Investigation revealed that 13 aspirants had purchased the forms at N50 million each at the APC national headquarters, 40 Blantyre Street, Wuse, Abuja.
The aspirants who have purchased the forms are a former Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba; a two-term governorship candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu; a former Edo State Governor, Oserheimen Osunbor and ex-Chairman of the APC Edo State, David Imuse.
Others are Emmanuel Momoh, Senator Monday Okpebholo, Dennis Idahosa,
Lucky Imasuen, Blessing Agbomore, Anamero Dekeri, Gideon Ikhine, Col. David Onabure Imuse and Maj. Gen. Charles Airhiavbere (retd.).
The APC Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, assured aspirants of fairness and a level playing field.
Ibrahim stated in an interview that “Our aspirants and stakeholders in Edo should expect fairness and nothing but fairness; there is going to be a level playing field for all because our ambition is to recapture Edo State.
“So the party is going to screen all those who have bought the forms and indicated interest. And they are going to be given a level playing field so that they bring in their best with a view to getting the people of Edo to buy in. So, they should expect fairness and we hope in return, they will also be fair.”
Regarding the unsuccessful pruning effort, the APC Director of Publicity stated that the aspirants would undergo screening, and only those meeting the necessary criteria would be eligible to vie for the party’s ticket.
“Well, buying form is just one out of the many stages of going into the election. One is to indicate interest by way of buying form. There are other stages that will follow where those who indicate interest will be screened. The party is not just looking at the purchase of form as the only condition for contesting the election. No. There are certain things that have to be met in order for the intendant contenders to be eligible for the election. So other stages will be set out,” he stated.
The APC experiment
With the PDP ticket almost guaranteed, Ighodalo’s biggest headache going into the main contest will be the APC, the country’s ruling party.
As a platform, the APC ranks behind the PDP and perhaps even LP in terms of acceptability among the general populace, but the party has solid structure in the state, parading a number of political bigwigs, from Adams Oshiomhole, the incumbent Senator representing Edo North, to his Edo Central counterpart, Monday Okpebholo, alias Akpakomiza, who is favoured to take the party’s ticket, to Oserheimen Osunbor, a former governor of the state, among others.
Okpebholo and Osunbor are two of the leading contenders from Edo Central, the Esanland, in APC, with the former, who defied the PDP to clinch the zone’s senatorial seat at the expense of Senator Clifford Ordia, said to be favoured by both the state and national leadership of APC to secure the ticket.
The party, however, has other big names, such as Dennis Idahosa, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, Lucky Imansen, Prince Clem Agba, Engineer Chris Ogiemwonyi, Prince Kassim Afegbua, Victor Eboigbe, Gideon Obhakhan and Col. David Imuse, among others, in contention, and observers say it poses credible threat to the PDP.
“Yes, it would be foolish to underrate APC in the election,” said Kevin Osazuwa, a political commentator from Benin, the state capital.
“The party may not be popular, but it has structure. We have seen how elections are won in Nigeria under the APC led Federal Government. It is not about popularity most times, but about being able to grab it by force,” Osazuwa said.
Labour Party in contention
The Labour Party, riding on the “Obidient Movement” won the last presidential election in Edo, and in so doing, earned a number of national assembly seats.
But experience has shown that there’s a marked difference between the Obidient Movement, which is the mass of young people backing change in the country’s political space through Peter Obi, former Anambra State governor, who ran for president on the party’s platform last year.
While Obi swept many states in the last presidential election, other candidates of the Labour Party have not been able to replicate the feat. And going into the Edo election, the party, though considered one of the leading platforms, may fall short of the required structure to mount a very serious challenge.
Regardless, it parades such contenders as the Olumide Akpata, the flamboyant former Nigeria Bar Association, who has continued to show that he means business with the elaborate campaign to run ahead of the party’s primary.
His key setback will be the fact that he is from Edo South, the same zone as Obaseki, the outgoing governor, at a time many, especially prominent figures in the Obedient movement in Edo, have expressed support for power shift to Edo Central.
Kenneth Imasuagbon, an experienced political player, who has been in the governorship race since 2007, is another name to look out for in the Labour Party ranks.
He has the advantage of coming from Edo Central, the zone favoured to produce the next governor.
He is popularly called the “Rice man” because of his philanthropy to the people.
Dorry Okojie, a real estate mogul and serial entrepreneur is another aspirant to watch out for in the Labour Party.
He is young, from the Central Zone, and is so far the candidate most appealing to the Obidient Movement.
The zoning problem
Zoning is perhaps the single biggest factor in the Edo election.
In line with the unwritten, but mostly observed arrangement of sharing power among three senatorial zones, it is the turn of Edo Central, the Esan clan to produce the next governor of the state, and many fair-minded people have bought into the idea.
Although the APC has since thrown its ticket open to all aspirants, while the likes of the deputy governor, Shaibu, who is from Edo North are fighting for the PDP ticket, even as Akpata is pulling weight in Labour, the prevailing sentiments favour power shift to the central.
The return of democracy in 1999 saw the emergence of Lucky Igbinedion, a Benin man from Edo South as governor.
He handed over to Oserheimen Osunbor, an Esan from Edo Central in 2007, but Osunbor’s election was overturned by the court in 2008, paving the way for Oshiomhole, from Auchi in Edo North to become governor.
Oshiomhole, upon the completion of his tenure in 2016, handed power to Obaseki, who is Benin from Edo South.
With his second term coming to an end in 2024, therefore, he is expected to hand power to Edo Central, and it’s, perhaps, with this in mind that he is widely believed to be backing Ighodalo.
Of the state’s three senatorial zones, Edo South, the Benin clan, has an overwhelming majority, constituting an estimated 60 percent of the state’s population.
They are followed by the Esan in Edo Central, who make up about 25 percent of the population, while Edo North, where the deputy governor comes from, accounts for another 15 percent.
Thus, Edo South holds much of the aces, which also means that a candidate the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, backs, will stand a good chance.
