Rising tension, legal battles, attacks heighten political temperature

Ahead of the September 21 governorship election, Edo State’s political landscape has been in turmoil as rival parties APC and PDP battle for who rules the state in the forthcoming. The reinstatement of impeached Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, his defection to the APC, and subsequent gun attacks have intensified the political rivalry, writes ADEYINKA ADEDIPE

With less than 60 days before the September 21 governorship election in Edo State, the political landscape is becoming more intriguing, chaotic and bloody. The last week threw up more twists and turns than any time in the lead-up to the election, with the political actors now even becoming more desperate in their quest for power.

The battle line is getting longer daily, the division between political leaders and parties is widening, while the forthcoming contest is taking a do-or-die colouration.

In a political setting where the winner takes all and the loser is left with nothing, the action being taken by political leaders and major stakeholders in the state is not unexpected, despite the tension created by such actions.

Thrown into the twist are court judgments and Saturday’s defection of notable actors from the ruling party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party, to the All Progressives Congress, which has turned the political calculation on its head.

The tension in the state heightened when an Abuja High Court, presided over by Justice J.K. Omotosho, on Wednesday reinstated the impeached Deputy Governor of the state, Philip Shaibu. The reinstatement threw the state into a political logjam, with the state government insisting that Marvellous Omobayo, who took over from Shaibu upon his impeachment by the state House of Assembly in April, would continue to be the state’s Deputy Governor. The government reportedly filed an appeal and a stay of execution of the judgment on Thursday, same day Shaibu returned to Benin City, the Edo State capital.

Armed with the judgment reinstating him to office, Shaibu arrived Benin on Thursday at about 3pm, in company with the candidate of the APC in the September 21 governorship election, Senator Monday Okpebholo, hoping to retrieve his mandate.

Things, however, turned deadly as soon as the duo’s convoy exited the Benin Airport. Gunmen, in a Sienna bus, opened fire on the convoy, killing one of the police orderlies attached to Okpebholo. After surviving the initial attack from the gunmen, other police officers fought back gallantly and were able to fight off the onslaught of their attackers.

A section of Airport Road in the heart of the city was turned into a battleground and shooting range of sorts as the gunmen freely shot at people, leaving members of the public scampering for safety while others, who were not so lucky got hit by bullets.

No one would have thought that the state would degenerate into this level of chaos a year ago when Governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Shaibu, were best of friends.

Then, Shaibu, a trusted ally of Obaseki, was in charge of the state’s local revenue generation drive and the sports ministry. He handled both jobs well to the admiration of his boss, who heaped praises on him at every opportunity he got to do.

However, the issue of who succeeded Obaseki brought an end to their once enviable cordial relationship. This came after Shaibu made his intention of becoming the next governor of the state known to Obaseki, who had a preference for a long-time business ally and head of his government’s economic team, Asue Ighodalo.

Shaibu’s ambition unsettled his principal, who planned to relieve him of his position to pave the way for the easy emergence of Ighodalo at the primary election of the PDP. Shaibu, not deterred, pressed on with his ambition and approached a Federal High Court in Abuja to halt any move aimed at impeaching him before the PDP primaries. The governor contended that the suit was not based on fact and Shaibu was prevailed upon to withdraw the case.

The fallout with his boss led to the relocation of Shaibu’s office from the Government House to the state Procurement Office on Osadebe Avenue. With this move, it was clear that the battle line had been drawn between the governor and his deputy.

While the rift between the two deepened, the wooing of party delegates began in full force with Ighodalo and Shaibu emerging as the main contenders for the party ticket. Despite Shaibu’s best efforts, Ighodalo emerged as the PDP candidate, defeating Shaibu and eight others to the ticket in a landslide. Shaibu was subsequently impeached by the Edo State House of Assembly on Monday April 8 following the adoption of the report of the seven-man investigative panel set up by the state chief judge to probe allegations of misconduct against the former deputy governor.

The investigative panel set up the House of Assembly, which was headed by Justice S.A. Omonua (retd.), probed Shaibu on allegations of perjury and leaking of government secrets, ending its sittings with the former deputy governor refusing to appear before it.

Not perturbed by Shaibu’s impeachment, three of his loyalists, who said they were part of the authentic delegates not allowed to vote alongside 381 others during the primary, approached an Abuja High Court to quash the result.

Justice Inyang Ekwo granted their request, noting that the exclusion of the 381 delegates, including the plaintiff, nullified the primary. He subsequently held that the process that returned Ighodalo as PDP’s candidate for the election was null and void.

The matter then came to a head when Shaibu, who also dragged the state House of Assembly to court over his impeachment, got a judgment last Wednesday, after he requested that he be reinstated as the Deputy Governor of Edo State.

In a swift move, the state House of Assembly appealed the judgment and filed for a stay of execution on Thursday, the same day Shaibu travelled down to Benin to be reinstated. However, Shaibu escaped death by a whisker alongside Okpebholo, following the gunmen attack on their way out of the airport.

However, a policeman to Okpebholo, Inspector Akor Onuh, was killed during the gun battle.

Brandishing a certified true copy of the judgment on Friday at his residence in the Government Reservation Area of Benin, Shaibu noted that the judgment was declaratory and that following the law, he had to be reinstated before any judicial move in the form of appeal or stay of execution of the judgment could be made.

He noted that those insinuating that he could not assume office were in contempt of court. He also noted that the attack was a planned assassination attempt on him.

He took a step further by announcing that he had instituted a N5bn suit against Obaseki, Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Project, Crusoe Osagie, for defamation.

Noting that he was not surprised that Nehikhare and Osagie were insisting that he remained impeached, Shaibu said it was clear that the duo did not study the court judgment before sending out their responses, which, he said, was their mode of operation.

He said, “I can tell you that Thursday’s attack was planned by the governor to assassinate me. The governor vowed to destroy me when I remained resolute in vying for the position of the governor. They said I was the one who planned the attack but I came in peacefully from Abuja to the state capital. Why were the armed thugs laying ambush for me? Were they expecting a visitor?

“I have already instituted a N5bn suit against the governor, Nehikhare and Osagie for defamation. They will be served next week. I have resumed, recalled all my staff and I will be working from home to prevent any confrontation. I remain the deputy governor. All salaries and entitlements will be paid,” he added.

Nehikhare, however, denied Shaibu’s allegation that Obaseki planned the Benin Airport attack. He said, “The accusation is nonsense. How can Shaibu say that the governor planned the attack against him? His thugs, who he mobilized, were the ones shooting sporadically and eventually killed the policeman. Having realised the enormity of what had happened; he is now running around to clear his name. But we all know that his thugs were the ones who carried out the attack.

“He was the one who ignored the plea by the Commissioner of Police to remain calm due to the appeal and stay of execution of judgment, which the state government got. We have videos of his thugs causing mayhem in the city on Thursday and he should be made to answer for his deeds.”

Saturday’s return of Shaibu to the APC from the PDP, alongside his supporters and members of the Legacy Group, led by Dan Orbih, means the leadership crisis in Edo State has ensured the governor and his deputy are from the ruling and opposition parties respectively as the September 21 gubernatorial poll edges closer.

Shaibu walked straight to where the former Governor of Edo State, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, was seated and knelt before him, which drew rapturous celebrations from party supporters.

 “On behalf of the Legacy Group, I announce our movement to the APC. We have come to add value to the party. It is time to take back our state. We will not talk too much because action will speak for us. We are not afraid; we are ready to move forward,” Shaibu stated.

“We the homebody are ready to take our state back through the APC governorship candidate, Monday Okpebholo, and his running mate, Dennis Idahosa. We are not troublemakers but if it comes, we will use it to rub our body and move on.”

However, Edo PDP chairman, Tony Aziegbemi, said Shaibu’s exit didn’t affect the party, boasting that those eager to join the PDP after Shaibu’s exit were more than those leaving the party for opposition parties.

He said, “I wish them good luck in their official endeavours. The PDP cannot be depleted because of this. Every vote counts, but those who are now coming to us because of his (Shaibu) exit are more than those who are leaving the party. So, we are good.

“My message to our party members and Edo people is that they should not lose focus. They should not be distracted. Let them align with the party. We are winning this election hands down, no matter what anybody thinks or does.”

In another twist, the state Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adegboye, since Thursday’s attack and killing of a police inspector, has been under fire, as major actors in the state’s political space are either calling on him to fish out the killers of the policeman or those involved in the shooting incident or blaming him outright for the death of the junior officer and his inability to provide security on the fateful day.

“It is disheartening to observe that while the ruthless shootings were going on, the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Funso Adeboye, was at the Benin Airport and he did nothing to repel the vicious attack, which led to the death of one of his officers,” Director of Media, APC Campaign Council for the September 21 governorship election, Kassim Afegbua, said.

“As fate would have it, it was our candidate’s police attache that was killed, our candidate and the deputy governor missed death by the whisker. From eyewitness accounts, some of these hoodlums are members of the Edo Vigilante Network fully kitted in their uniforms.

“The Commissioner of Police, Edo State Command, has willfully undermined the responsibility placed on him by law, which is the protection of lives and property within his jurisdiction, as he has become the puppet of the governor from whom he takes politically-minded instructions.”

The police commissioner, Adeboye, however, exonerated himself of any wrongdoing.

He said, “I had information that some people gathered at the airport and I went in there because our goal is to maintain law and order. Where we discover we have a crowd, we will go there. So, we were there, myself and my men and it was after these people left the airport that we learnt about the shooting which led to the death of the inspector.”

With the election closing in, hearts of residents of the state with the motto ‘The Heartbeat of The Nation’ are beating over what could happen next as analysts watch with keen interest the next move by the political gamesmen in the state as they battle to untangle the political logjam ahead of the September poll.