BETWEEN HON. IDAHOSA, APC AND GOVERNOR OBASEKI

By: Friday Egharevba,

Hon. Charles Ekhorutomwen Idahosa is a well-known political heavy weight in Edo State. He has been part of the midwifing of many political parties in Nigeria, including the defunct Action Congress of Democrats ACD, which later merged to become All Progressives Congress APC. Hon. Idahosa is known for his vibrancy and for always working very hard to ensure the growth and development of his party as well as victory for the candidates of his party. Indeed, he has a magic wand for winning elections generally. Hon. Idahosa is a jolly good fellow when it comes to politics. When he is for you, he is for you indeed, no compromise. This is because he is very frank and fearless, he is a politician with open and independent mind. Unlike some politicians who will rather speak from both sides of their mouth to attract cheap political patronage, Hon. Idahosa will say it as it ought to be, irrespective of who is involved.

Hon. Idahosa’s recent press statement about the state of All Progressives Congress in Edo State published on page 23 of Vanguard of June 6, 2018 was basically meant to alert the entire leadership of APC in Edo State and beyond about how events have taken a new turn in APC in Edo State for the worse. Anyone who read the statement and analysed it critically would discovered that Hon. Idahosa has no personal problem with Governor Godwin Obaseki. However, Hon. Idahosa is not happy that the structure that was used to produce Governor Obaseki in 2016 is being destroyed. For example, the APC leaders in Edo South senatorial district that were instrumental to the success of the APC in the 2016 governorship election have been side-lined, without the governor doing anything about it. According to Hon. Idahosa, “When a dog begins to bark at its owner, then, the dog owner should strut around in caution”. In other words, something is fundamentally wrong when a dog continuously bark at the owner. Something is definitely wrong if the governor feigns or claim ignorance and keeps quiet when the leaders of his party are been short-changed. That is the crux of the matter.

In politics there are no permanent friends or enemies, what is permanent are interest. To Hon. Idahosa, the interest of the party and the people should be paramount in every political arrangement. He wonders if the structure on ground is destroyed, what will become of APC in future elections. When the stone the builder rejects later becomes the head of the corner stone, what will be the fate of such builder? Again, when anyone destroys the ladder with which he or she climbs to the top, such a person may encounter difficulties when coming down.

Since Hon. Idahosa published that press statement, it has attracted various comments from politicians and non-politicians alike. Some have alleged that it was orchestrated because of lack of political patronage. However, Hon. Idahosa said it is far from it, he said as a leader of APC he has received the desired respect and goodwill from the governor as a right and privilege. To him, the Governor is not giving listening ears to the voices of reasons. The Governor is not impacting positively on the ordinary people through the execution of projects that will have direct impact on the people. He gave example with schools rehabilitation, renovation of hospitals across the state, provision of electricity and construction of roads to open up the rural areas, establishment of small cottage industries, among others. Hon. Idahosa is of the opinion that due to paucity of funds, the governor ought to concentrate on short term projects that the people can benefit from before another electioneering year, rather than focusing on long term project that will gulp more money and may never be completed.

Another issue is the Governor’s stance to allow his loyalists in the leadership of the party in the state to scare away party leaders which is quite provocative, embarrassing and unfortunate. According to Hon. Idahosa, the Governor is using his powers to silence some leaders of the party, especially in Edo South senatorial district. He said with his years of experience as a politician, he can never be silenced by any Governor with anything or for any reason whatsoever. That explains why Hon. Idahosa has to come out publicly to alert the people. According to Hon. Idahosa “God forbid I should keep quiet in the face of a charade and injustice perpetuated with savage impunity. I am a prisoner of conscience and I feel tormented by the smokescreen”.

Furthermore, the introduction of new dynamics by APC leadership in the state, especially with regards to the just concluded APC congress and local government elections is quite provocative and unfortunate. Some council chairmen have not been able to appoint supervisory councillors due to interference from the Governor, who insist on having the supervisors nominated by himself. It appears there is a deliberate attempt to detach some politicians from the party, even when they know that such politicians are in control of the political structure in their respective areas. According to Hon. Idahosa “I have given the issues serious thoughts in the last few weeks and find some of the actions of the party leadership illogical and provocative”.

At this point, one must salute the courage and resilience of Hon. Charles Idahosa in this present political farce in Edo state APC. The state Governor should go back to the drawing board, learn from history and make the necessary amends. First the Governor should know that Samuel Ogbemudia was two time Governor and he developed the state with emphasis in Benin City. Prof. Folorunsho Alli was a governor and he developed the state with priority given to Esan land culminating in the establishment of a University in Ekpoma. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was a governor and he developed the state with special attention to Etsako land. He established a University in his home town Iyamho. Oshiomhole empowered his people through political appointments and employments. These three governors succeeded because they were able to carry the political leaders at all levels along in the scheme of things. They succeeded because they recognised the supremacy of political party and its leaders. They succeeded because they did not deprive their political leaders of their rights and privileges. Therefore, Governor Obaseki should also try to leave such enduring legacies behind, especially for his people of Edo South senatorial district. It would amount to nothing for the Governor to embark on long term elephant projects that would not have direct and immediate benefit for the people and which may be uncompleted and abandoned after his tenure.

Governor Obaseki should realise that the entrenchment of political party is not achieved by one person. It takes collective efforts and struggle to bring about a vibrant and winning political party. Therefore, all stakeholders must be identified, recognised and carried along in the political affairs and governance. The beauty of democracy is that when people are dissatisfied with any political party, they have freedom of choice. Everyone is important and relevant in politics because they have power to mobilise people to vote and be voted for. To this end, no one is actually powerful or powerless in a political system. This should be very instructive for the Governor and APC leaders in Edo State.