March 18 poll: Obaseki panics as National Assembly election defeat unsettles governor

With the woeful performance of the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State in the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections, ADEYINKA ADEDIPE writes that the state Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has hit the streets soliciting votes as the popularity of his party dwindles in the state

The battle for the soul of the Edo State House of Assembly has become fierce as two political heavyweights in the state, Governor Godwin Obaseki of the Peoples Democratic Party and his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole of the All Progressives Congress, are locked in a battle of wits. They are both campaigning vigorously to earn their parties enough votes to control the 24-member Assembly.

With the governorship election not taking place in the state until 2024, it has become more important for the governor to ensure he gets majority-seats in the assembly to avert any impeachment move.

The governor, whose party failed to win any of the National Assembly seats or deliver the state to the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the presidential and National Assembly elections on February 25, knows he has to double his efforts if he intends to get the majority in the state assembly, which is looking unlikely considering the voting pattern in the last election, where the APC dominated in Edo North and Edo Central while the Labour Party candidates held sway in Edo South, while the PDP finished a distant third in the presidential poll.

All hope is not lost, as the state PDP, headed by the governor, is making efforts to reverse the situation.

However, the lukewarm attitude of the Legacy Group, led by PDP Vice Chairman South-South, Dan Orbih, towards the election may have greatly contributed to the poor showing of the party. What is clear is that this week is crucial for the governor and his faction.

Obaseki has taken his campaign to the markets and streets to tell the traders and residents about the need to vote for his party in the March 18 election, noting that achieving this would help him continue the development of the state.

However, some traders have not bought his idea, as he was greeted with chants of Obi (the LP presidential candidate) when he went to the Uwelu spare parts market recently. He was eventually granted an audience after frayed nerves were calmed. However, he had a better reception in some other markets he took his campaign to, which could be a good sign for the candidates of his party in the March 18 election.

On the other hand, the emergence of Oshiomhole as the Edo North representative in the Senate appears to have galvanised the APC, which was before now doing poorly as the main opposition party in the state. Having secured Edo North and floored the Deputy Governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu, who is from the same local government area as the former APC national leader, in the February 25 election, Oshiomhole relocated to Benin, the state capital, where he has continued to campaign at markets and open spaces. Wherever he went, he was met by an enthusiastic crowd that chanted his name. What Oshiomhole has going for him is the way he captivates the crowd and holds them spellbound with his energy and rhetoric.

Adding to the fierce battle is the acrimony generated by the exclusion of 14 APC members from the assembly in 2019 and the fallout between the governor and Oshiomhole, which led to the APC denying Obaseki a second-term ticket. Obaseki defected to the PDP, where he realised his second-term ambition.

As expected, both camps are firing salvos at each other as they are locked in a battle of words and wit.

The Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media Projects, Crusoe Osagie, in a statement, said moves by Oshiomhole on the House of Assembly poll exposed his (Oshiomhole’s) insidious plan to oust Governor Obaseki through impeachment.

Osagie expressed confidence that the Edo people, as they did in 2020, would again rise in defence of the governor at the polls on March 18 and vote massively for the PDP by electing a House controlled by the PDP.

Osagie said, “The recent statement by the former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on the fate of Governor Godwin Obaseki in the Edo State House of Assembly polls exposes his insidious plan to oust the current governor through impeachment. Punch