Prefatory notes to the new governor of Edo State, By Sufuyan Ojeifo

In a letter I penned on November 4, 2024 entitled: “Letter to Chief Tony Anenih: “Amonghon” Leader, Monday is Edo governor-elect,” I raised a number of issues around the persona of Senator Monday Okpebholo, who will be sworn in today, Tuesday, November 12, 2024 as governor of Edo State. They are issues that will shape, define and contextualise his governance style in his first term; and, if by reason of good performance, political correctness and the gift of life, his second term, as a reciprocal gesture by an appreciative Edo electorate.

So, as he moves into the State Government House on Osadebey Avenue, Benin City, to commence the onerous task of honchoing the administration of the state, I feel compelled to keep fidelity with my promise in the letter referenced supra to hold the feet of the governor to the fire in the performance of my watchdog role as journalist and stakeholder in the Edo project.

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Before I delve straight into the nitty-gritty of this piece, it is pertinent to point out and applaud the appointment of a Chief Press Secretary by Governor Monday Okpebholo on the eve of the inauguration of his government. It was a strategic decision that clearly underscored good thinking: emplacing a spokesperson even before inauguration can only mean one thing: a disposition or proclivity to utilitarian public communication. As soon as the governor is sworn in, Fred Itua will hit the ground running with the governor by communicating government’s actions and decisions to the public in a practical fashion from the first minute.

It is, indeed, becoming incrementally writ-large that, contrary to the misconception and misperception of the Monday Okpebholo persona as drab and uninspiring, especially during the electioneering that presaged the September 21 governorship election, a calculative and intentional “Sheriff” is in town. The air of celebrations galore is in the firmament of Edo, and particularly, in the enclave of Edo Central zone, made up of the super minority Esan ethnic nationality. The roll out of drums in festivity is an expected common feature, which is good. I do not expect Monday Okpebholo to waste too much time on celebration and frolicking. This is not the time to play. It is time for action. He should hit the ground running in accordance with the popular axiom.

On my part, I would be intervening, and where necessary, contravening in the politics and administration of Edo State in a series of notes going forward. I have aptly tagged this “prefatory” because it is what it is-to commence the process that will be searching or scrutinizing, thought-provoking and engaging. This one is to remind Governor Okpebholo about the fact of a political history of disloyalty and betrayal that upended the reign of his former party-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo, circa 2008.

A little bit of recap will suffice here: in 2007, Professor Oserhimen Osunbor of the PDP was declared winner of the governorship election by the electoral body. His opponent, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) dragged Osunbor through the court and succeeded in reclaiming his electoral mandate from the usurper. The tragedy of Osunbor’s loss was self-inflicted. It derived from his political naivety. While he was in court defending his “mandate”, he allowed some power centres in Edo South to deceive him into believing that he should, from the outset of his administration, build his political structure at the expense of the structure of the Leader, Chief Tony Anenih.

Osunbor was consequently and tragically largely distracted. He was fighting Anenih within the party and Oshimohole outside the party. For instance, some PDP witnesses, who were Anenih’s loyalists withdrew from his case. Smart moves and political concessions were made by Oshiomhole to get the strategic support of Anenih to consummate his victory at the court, which was what accounted for the initial accommodation of Anenih’s nominees in Oshiomhole’s government before the final parting of ways.

This is the crux of my prefatory note to Governor Monday Okpebholo. I am sufficiently aware of the gerrymandering that produced him as the candidate of the APC in the primary election in which he was not given a chance to win. Sans the intervention of power sources from Abuja, Okpebholo would not have got the ticket of the APC. Oshiomhole had virtually locked down the ticket for his protégé, Hon Dennis Idahosa. Governor Hope Uzondinma had announced Idahosa as winner of the primary election, foisted a fait accompli of a flawed process on the party and left for Imo, before the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, intervened as leader of APC in the South-south zone.

Akpabio’s intervention was the divine hand of God in the affairs of Okpebholo. I gathered from a grapevine that Akpabio took a liking for Okpebholo after his election as Senate President. Okpebholo, according to the grapevine, was the only senator who did not collect a dollar from Akpabio to vote for him as senate president. That singular act of selfless commitment to the Akpabio presidency of the Senate was the ginger that got the number three citizen to assume Okpbeholo’s guber ambition as his personal enterprise. Akpabio’s leadership of the south and the Okpebholo pro bono support were the arguments he canvassed at his meetings with President Bola Tinubu for presidency’s go-ahead for him to take over the process in Edo APC at the expense of Oshiomhole.

Why have I made this the core of my prefatory note? It is to prevent the recurrence of the Osunbor saga. How? I am aware that there is political plan to stop Oshiomhole from returning to the Senate in 2027, that is if he even wants to seek re-election. I was made to understand that he might not seek re-election. This is, however, subject to confirmation and reconfirmation. Akpabio plans to return as Senate President in 2027. If Oshiomhole returns to Senate, he is a potential candidate for the senate presidency as a ranking senator, one of the criteria that worked against him in 2023.

A contest between Akpabio and Oshiomhole for the senate seat will be tough. Oshiomhole, an ally of the north, is projected to get the support of the majority northern senators, who are not, as learnt, happy with Akpabio’s leadership style. The only way to forestall that apocalypse is to ensure that Oshiomhole does not pick the APC ticket let alone winning the election to return to the Senate. Will Okpebholo be a battle axe in the hands of Akpabio to upend Oshiomhole’s run? It is advisable that Okpebholo should not accept to be part of that plot.

Having, after the initial disagreement over the choice of guber candidate, worked completely wholeheartedly for the victory of Okpebholo, I am of the firm belief that Oshiomhole has redeemed himself as the ultimate leader and should be allowed to wear that badge of recognition and honour. It is this recognition that will ensure that political collaboration and peace reign supreme in the affairs of the APC-both in the political and governmental wing; otherwise, as it was with Osunbor, so shall it be with Okpebholo. The PDP is dragging the APC through the court to challenge the outcome of the September 21 guber election. Okpebholo and the APC do not need any distraction whether now or in the future that could be implosive.

What should be much more important to Okpebholo than all the divisive politics of entrenching personal interests over public interest is judicious management of the public finance of Edo and the direct intervention of government in infrastructure development in the State. In my letter to Chief Tony Anenih referenced in the introduction of this piece, I had vouched for Governor Monday’s passion for Esan agenda within the overarching Edo agenda. He once complained about the bad roads in Edo Central in a meeting/discussion I had with him in company with Comrade Tony Erha, and promised to fix them as governor. He is in the saddle now and I am sure he will keep fidelity to that promise.

My advice, however, is this: it is good to be passionate about one’s root, one’s ethnic affiliation, but I urge fairness in the distribution of democracy dividends to the three senatorial districts. I am not saying that development should be even. The governor should be fair in dealing with all parts of the state. Under Oshiomhole, development was not even. It was fair. Edo North remains the greatest beneficiary of the Oshiomhole era. The road network is a subsisting testimony. I, however, do not know what Governor Godwin Obaseki did for Edo South that can speak for his era as governor. I reiterate the imperativeness of Monday Okpebholo’s fairness in the distribution of infrastructure projects across the state.

Welcome on board, Mr Governor. As it is said in Hausa: ga fili, ga doki (meaning see the horse, the see the filed). Let the race of governance begin in earnest. I wish Mr Governor well as I keep my eyes on his administration for constant performance review. God bless our dear state of Edo.

■ Sufuyan Ojeifo is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of THE CONCLAVE @ ojwonderngr@yahoo.com