From the creeks, cities and hinterlands of Edo State, there are muffled but menacing echoes of violence as the September 19th governorship election draws nearer.
The on-going campaigns are pockmarked by tense and occasionally violent altercations between supporters and critics of the incumbent, Godwin Obaseki and his main challenger, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, which have renewed concerns about the spectre of violence in Nigeria’s politics.
A foretaste of this was experienced in July, when supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, clashed at the hallowed grounds of the palace of the Oba of Benin. Ahead of the flag-off of the PDP governorship campaign in Benin City, the Edo State capital, its candidate, Governor Godwin Obaseki led some governors and leaders of the party from the South-south to the palace.
There were reports that solidarity and combative songs rend the air as tempers later went beyond control, resorting in the thugs employing an assortment of weapons, including firearms, cutlasses and others. In the process, several persons were reportedly injured while others scampered to safety as some of the cars parked at the palace gate were badly damaged.
The police later intervened and restored normalcy but the message of what laid ahead had been succinctly passed that not only ballots would be counted; bodies too!
Of course, there were accusations and counter-accusations about, who the aggressor was as the APC, through John Maiyaki, chairman of its media campaign council, stated: “Booed by the people at the entrance of the Palace of our great Oba for handing the state to the PDP tax collectors, who are unconscionably feasting on our collective patrimony, Mr Godwin Obaseki, as an act of revenge, instructed the thugs and cultists he has spent the past few weeks recruiting in the state and beyond to attack the people with dangerous arms.
“This criminal and heartless action not only affirms our repeated warnings that Mr Godwin Obaseki fully intends to prosecute the election with violence and thuggery, but it also shows his lack of empathy, conscience, and respect for the lives and dignity of the people he was elected to serve.”
On his part, Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, said the thugs were sponsored by the APC, its candidate, and the former National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, who, he alleged, had engaged thugs to cause mayhem in the state before then.
Osagie said further, “We are appalled by the deployment of thugs to the sacred grounds of the Oba’s Palace by the APC, Ize-Iyamu and Oshiomhole to harass guests, who are in the state for the flag-off of Governor Obaseki’s campaign and had visited the palace to pay obeisance to His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, the Oba of Benin.
“While we respect the boundaries of politics as it relates to the palace, it is reprehensible that the APC, its candidate and their enablers would sponsor thugs to desecrate the palace, which is a clear case of desperation to score cheap points.
“This conduct is not a trait of Edo people and is condemned in the strongest possible terms, as we are courteous and welcoming to guests. It is obvious that these persons were mobilised for this task by those, who have no regard for the palace nor want the progress and development of the state.”
Between then and now, the tones are yet not conciliatory; rather, they are getting more confrontational by the day. The foregoing underscores why the recent intervention of the Oba of Benin is commendable.
On Tuesday, September 2, Oba Ewuare 11 held a peace meeting with Obaseki, Ize-Iyamu, Oshiomhole and a former National Chairman of the A…
[3:08 PM, 9/7/2020] Mr Tosin: Why I’ve decided to support Ize-Iyamu against Obaseki – Okunbo The Chairman, Ocean Marine Solution, Capt. Hosa Okunbo, has said he decided to support the All Progressives Congress candidate in the September 19 governorship election in Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, because the party will work to develop the state.
Okunbo, who said this in an interview in Abuja, described himself as a very close person to Governor Gowdin Obaseki, but said the governor should not be allowed to get a second term.
“I still consider Godwin my brother, but I don’t consider him a leader because he doesn’t have the attributes of a good leader,” he said.
Okunbor in the interview berated Obaseki, saying, “A governor that could not manage 24 House of Assembly members from his own party – they were not in opposition, all APC. Some of us worked to make that possible for him so he could have a smooth ride but he squandered the chance.
“It’s only unfortunate that Osagie Ize-Iyanmu, who also contested against him in 2016, is out there and I am supporting him by default and of course, I want a better Edo State and that’s all I can say.”
Okunbo accused Obaseki of non-performance, saying most of the lofty ideas he floated before his election in 2016 had remained on paper without being fulfilled, while he had sustained himself in office through propaganda.
He stated, “If Godwin presents to you his plans for Edo State on PowerPoint, you will kiss his feet. It is like in the Bible when the devil said take all these and bow before me and Jesus said, ‘Get thee behind me Satan’. And as we progressed, all those packages that he presented, none was done
“I learnt most of them are all on paper and they continue to be on paper and consultancy services attached to most of them. Of course, as we speak, most of those projects are not on the ground and as for me, I can’t be deceived. Some can be deceived, but I cannot.
“A situation, where you have 600 children packed in a room and selling propaganda on social media of projects that are not there? It is appalling.
“It is the future of our children that is at stake; the liberation of our state from someone who thinks he is an emperor in this modern day is at stake.”
Okunbo alleged that Obaseki started a fierce battle against his business interests because of a rumour that was going round in the state that he (Okunbo) was planning to contest against him in the coming election.
He said, “A lot of people approached me to run as the governor of Edo State and most of the people who did will tell you that I said I wasn’t interested because I have set a trajectory for my life and over the past 32 years, I have been involved in business and before that, I was a very good professional pilot.
“At 63, my mates that ran for governorship did that in 1999 and I was not ready to start learning new things. That is one of the reasons I tried to help Godwin, because in his old age, he could not learn new things; that is why he fell a victim.”
Okunbo explained that he warned Obaseki to settle the rift between him and his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole, who was then the Chairman of the APC.
He said Obaseki refused to listen to him and follow the line of peace, adding that the governor rather warned him to steer clear of the raging battle or suffer “a collateral damage.”
‘APC stirring controversy to shift gov poll’
When Okunbo’s allegations against the governor were listed and sent to the WhatsApp number of Obaseki’s Special Adviser on Media, Crusoe Osagie, he sent a statement titled, ‘APC stirring controversy to shift guber poll’.
In the statement, Osagie said the APC was stirring controversy so that the authorities could shift the September 19 governorship election.
He said, “Edo State is peaceful, the Peoples Democratic Party is committed to enduring peace before, during and after the poll.
“The APC leaders and the governorship candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, are agitated because they are not ready for the election. They are convinced that they do not stand any chance in the forthcoming election.
“They are behaving like some unserious and misguided university students, who do not read, and when faced with examinations, they engage in cult fights few weeks to the examination, so that the school authority will shift the examination.”
He emphasized that state was peaceful as people were going about their business peacefully, and urged the APC candidate and his handlers to concentrate on their campaign.
When Osagie was told later that his response did not address Okunbor’s allegations, he sent the same statement again.