By Sebastine Ebhuomhan
Introduction. Following the peaceful, free, fair and credible governorship election the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted in Edo State on Saturday, 21st September 2024 and the issuance of Certificate of Return to the winner, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, all is now set for the administration of oath of office and the formal handover by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)-elected Governor Godwin Obaseki on 11th November, 2024, signaling the beginning of Okpebholo’s four-year term as the Governor of Edo State.
Wednesday, 16th October, 2024. Abuja. From Kings’ Square down to Uromi up to Auchi, Edo State is agog. A new oxygen of excitement and passion called Akpakomiza is pumping the Heartbeat of Nigeria into liveliness. With due respect to Charles Dickens, there are great expectations. Not in the greedy acrimonious anticipation of retrieving a fictional stolen mandate but of the celebration of the official beginning of a four-year people’s mandate peacefully, freely, fairly, credibly and populously given to the APC Governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo.
Just as it was in novelist Dickens’ world of 1860 to 1861 when he first published his greatest critical and popular success, Edo state governorship election marked for the long-suffering downtrodden people, self-discovery, social mobility and pursuit of happiness. The election highlighted the themes of social class and inequality, ambition fuelled by passion, and personal growth nurtured by people’s love.
All is now set, therefore, for the official handing-over of power in Edo State by the incumbent outgoing Governor Obaseki to the incoming Governor-elect Okpebholo. To ensure a smooth exercise next month, the APC has constituted and announced its Transition Committee to work with the outgoing Obaseki administration. According to a letter dated 14th October, signed by Edo State APC Chairman, Jarette Tenebe, and addressed to Mr. Obaseki, a 24-member list has been empowered to work with the government for a smooth hand-over.
The committee of eminent personalities and diverse professionals with expertise in various fields and disciplines sprinkled with elderly and youthfulness is chaired by a former Deputy Governor of Edo State, Dr. Pius Odubu. It includes Okpebholo’s Campaign Organisation Director-General, Dr. (Pharm.) Matthew Urhoghide as well as a former Secretary to the State Government, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. Other members, most of whom are past elected and appointed state and federal high political office holders, are: Barrister Andrew Adaze Emwanta, Dr. Washington Osifo, Mr. Nosa Adams, Ms. Omosede Igbinedion, Mr. Paul Ohonbamu, Edo Omorogieva, Ernest Afolabi Umakhihe, Taiwo Akerele, Godwin Eshieshie, Yakson Musa, Kazeem Afegbua and Ohio Omo Ezomo.
The rest are: Gani Audu, Dr. Aminu Imafidon, Prof. Oyaziwo Aluede, Prof (Mrs.) Eunice Omonzejie, Matthew Egbadon, Dr. Tony Ikpasaja, Felix Akhabue, Kingsley Ehigiamusor, and Fran Omoh.
Titled, Re: The Transition Process, and addressed to Governor Obaseki, the letter stated, “I write to acknowledge the receipt of your letter requesting the Governor-Elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo and the All Progressives Congress (APC), to initiate the formation of a transition team to work with your side.
“We however look forward to a smooth and effective collaboration with our 24-member Committee, headed by Chief Pius Odubu as Chairman, for meaningful discussions that will lead to a seamless transition process. Attached herewith is the list of members of the Transition Committee as requested.
“Your commitment is highly appreciated,” Emperor Tenebe concluded.
The announcement of the APC committee, on the backheel of expectation, served as a reply to the state government, which wrote the governor-elect days earlier. Dated 10th October and signed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Joseph Eboigbe, the letter highlighted the importance of a transition committee as a means of facilitating the basis for an effective collaboration and transfer of responsibilities for continuity in governance.
The letter read, “I hope this message finds you in great spirits. As we prepare for the transition of power, we believe it is crucial to establish a smooth and effective collaboration between your team and the current administration.
“To facilitate this process, we invite you and your party, the All Progressives Congress, to initiate the formation of your transition team at your earliest convenience.
“Establishing this team would allow us to begin meaningful discussion and share vital information that will ensure a seamless transfer of responsibilities and continuity of governance.
“We are committed to providing you with the necessary support and resources to make this transition as effective and efficient as possible. Consequently, October 14, 2024, is proposed for the inaugural meeting for members of both transition committees.
The letter concluded, “We look forward to your prompt response and to working closely with you and your team in the coming weeks. Together, we can set the foundation for a successful administration that meets the expectations of our constituents. Thank you for your attention.”
It will be recalled that Governor Obaseki had earlier constituted the Edo government’s transition team. In an action that, perhaps, foretold Okpbholo and APC’s victory when compared to and contrasted with the delay the governor exhibited in the constitution of his second term government cabinet, Obaseki on the 11th of July, 2024, inaugurated a 20-member Transition Committee under the chairmanship of his administration’s former Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Eboigbe, who would later become the SSG. The governor tasked the committee to retrieve and document all activities, policies and decisions of his administration in a digital format as an institutional memo with recommendations for the next administration.
Speaking on the day of inauguration, Obaseki said, “A proper digital and regular data room would be created where all documents related to every activity, contract, exco decisions, presentation, and policy paper in every area will be retrieved, documented and chronicled as it will serve as institutional memory for the next and subsequent administration.
“You will all put together reports on each area and aspect of government we have intervened in and recommendations for the next administration.
“This document and resources should serve to smoothly transfer power and knowledge from this administration to the next. We would have both the physical and digital repository of all the information and decisions taken during the life of this administration as these documents will be relevant both for internal and external consumption and research and possibly policy development,” he added.
“This report will also give a detailed account of strategic vision and outlook of the administrative structure, policies impact and completed programme and initiative as well as uncompleted programme and initiative to enable the incoming administration to know where to take off from.
“This report should be completed before the 30th of October 2024, as this document will form parts of what will be handover during the transition period of November 11th, 2024,” Obaseki tasked the government Transition Committee even as Eboigbe promised on behalf of his members to discharge their duty with diligence, after a reassurance of working hard to meet the deadline of their responsibility.
Following the governor-elect and APC’s timely reply, it is hoped that a new date would be promptly scheduled by the government committee and communicated to the Okpebholo committee as soon as possible for the inaugural meeting of both committees, since the old tentative date of 14th October could not be realistic. Based on Obaseki’s directive above and whatever directive Okpebholo might have passed to his committee, the depth, width, gamut and quality of the end result are crystal clear as both committees settle down to work.
It is further hoped that the new clarity of purpose, diligence, and focus on a smooth, seamless and successful transition of power next month would be explored and pursued by not only both sides but all and sundry, especially after Dr. Akintunde Asuerinme Ighodalo and the PDP, runners-up of the election, have now reportedly submitted their petitions to the election tribunal. Confirming at a press conference on Tuesday, Edo PDP Chairman, Anthony Aziegbemi, also alleged without evidence that its members arrested at different places in the state for threats, assaults, violence, gun-running, murder, and kidnapping before the election were released only after the payment of N64 million.
Mr. Aziegbemi said, “We have begun the journey to reclaim the people’s mandate and a petition has been filed before the Edo State Election Tribunal. Against all odds, the petition has been filed as APC’s plan is for us not to successfully file the petition. The mandate given to PDP will be reclaimed.
“We have put our fingers where the problem is and the election tribunal will surely give us our mandate based on overwhelming evidence before them.”
After many threats, much violence, and many lies from the PDP leadership against everybody and anybody who has anything or nothing to do with the Edo State governorship election before and after the election: from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the INEC chairman and management to the heads of security agencies and to the leaders of the APC as well as many other citizens who are not related to the APC, it is relieving that the party has finally filed a petition. It is noteworthy that despite its thug’s gunshots at Ramat Park, neither the INEC nor the APC could thwart the PDP’s course. It is advisable therefore that PDP leaders and members accept in a sportsmanship spirit whatever the tribunal finally judges on the petition.
Speaking further, Aziegbemi alleged without evidence, “Before the election, most of our members were arrested by a special unit of the Nigerian Police from Abuja. It might interest you to note that most of the guys have been released as they paid cumulatively about N64 million and the police said bail is free.” If this latest mudslinging from Aziegbemi, who has a pending litigation for lying against the National Security Adviser before the election, is to be considered without an acceptance, why would a citizen who already knew bail is free still commit an offence by paying for bail under police arrest? Could Aziegbemi be implying that the PDP officially entered the sum of N64 million into its record as the bribe the party paid to secure murder and other criminal suspects from police detention?
It also hoped that after the PDP submitted its petition, the party’s leadership and candidate would allow the tribunal to work without distraction and hindrance. When asked why he has not congratulated the election winner during Wednesday’s edition of the 9.00am Independent Radio Pidgin programme in Benin, Man Around Town, Mr. Ighodalo rhetorically asked in his reply, “Dem dey congratulate thief”? With sub-judicial statements like this from the man who literally stole PDP’s ticket with the help of Governor Obaseki resulting to the disenfranchisement of about 300 lawfully elected delegates, nobody should expect the new administration to overlook the evils the puppet and his puppeteer committed in power for eight years after the handover as Edo people are now clamouring.
In addition to the PDP, five other political parties also submitted petitions. They are: the All People’s Movement (APM), the All People’s Party (APP), the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and the Accord Party (AP).
Considering that the five political parties scored just an average of 5,000 votes altogether, their baseless acts have prompted political observers to ask what they are going to the tribunal to do. Notwithstanding their veiled and convoluted claims, the election winner, Okpebholo, believes they have the right as an essential democratic ingredient of a credible election even as he continues to call on the parties’ candidates to join him to develop Edo State.
While the PDP and Ighodalo are claiming they won the election, the other five parties are claiming that “no winner can emerge from the election which was held in fundamental breach of the Electoral Act and Regulations.” They are arguing for a fresh election after alleging that the election was improperly conducted. The petitioners specifically challenged the results INEC declared in nine local government areas: Esan North East, Esan South West, Igueben, Ikpoba Okha, Orhionmwon, Ovia South West, Ovia North East, Uhunmwonde, and Egor. Unsurprisingly, the PDP won in eight of the nine LGAs except in Egor, won by the APC. What this shows is that every party has a different view of the election and may never be satisfied with INEC’s decision. This simply highlights the need for all the political parties, including the PDP, to immediately withdraw their petitions and join Okpebholo to form a government of unity. This will save them from wasting funds and the disgrace of losing at the tribunal.
This advice particularly relates to the PDP, whose leader, Governor Obaseki, began preparing for a post-election tribunal on 13th June, 2023, when he tapped ex-INEC Director, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, and appointed him as Edo State Attorney-General. Edo people voted on Saturday, 21st September, 2024. A winner emerged. Neither the tribunal nor appellate court can change the voice of the people collectively and lawfully expressed in Okpebholo’s mandate.
Despite opposition distractions, Okpebholo has continued to carry himself with humility, respect, aplomb, passion, hope and courage before presenting his Certificate of Return to President Tinubu, Oba of Benin, others and after. Undistracted, he continues to prepare himself for the great tasks of governance, visiting authorities, meeting strategic partners, receiving and collating suggestions, even as his party leadership continues with fine tuning the handover process and government formation.
“I am in a hurry to work and bring relief to the residents of Edo State. My deputy, Rt. Hon. Dennis Idahosa and I have taken time to assess the situation of the state, and the outcome is pitiable. It is time for action. I am ready for governance. I won’t yield to distractions. The mandate given to me is a call to serve. I’ll deliver results that will lift every part of Edo State,” he reiterated.
Governor-elect Okpebholo campaigned with a Five-point agenda. Security. Agriculture, water resources and food sustainability. Affordable healthcare. Value-driven education. And road construction. As Edo people happily wait for 11th of November, they have started setting an agenda for the coming administration. Many voices are undoubtedly united on road construction and rehabilitation. The demand is a stark reminder of the difficulty poll officials encountered accessing communities on election day owing to flooding from downpours that prevented many eligible voters from voting. Today, bad roads litter the entire state.
For example, in a WhatsApp post, a personal aide to the Benin monarch, Comrade Curtis Ugbo, enjoined Okpebholo to “Declare a state of emergency on our roads across the state during the dry season.” Following the freedom local government administration now enjoys, Okpebholo, who has already acknowledged the bad state of roads in the state, must consciously commit council chairmen into the development of accessible roads for communities.
While other demands would be focussed subsequently, residents are not convinced about the quality of roads produced from the dying-minute rush by the Obaseki administration that began just before the election.
Sebastine EBHUOMHAN is an award-winning journalist and a media consultant from Edo State, writing from Abuja. He can be reached on: usie007@yahoo.com or 08037204620.