N/Assembly contests: How the candidates stand in Edo

In Edo State, tomorrow’s national assembly contest will be the toughest since 1999 as Governor Adams Oshimhole’s ACN takes on PDP’s well known fixers in a battle that may decide the future for many politicians.

The April general elections in Edo State are going to be the toughest since the commencement of our nascent democracy 12 years ago. This is because from 1999 till 2006, Edo state had been a one party state. The only party on the ground was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

All the people that matter politically in the state were in the PDP. All the elective positions from the governor, National Assembly members, house of assembly members and even local government officials were  all in the PDP. But the political situation changed when former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole entered the political terrain.

Oshiomhole contested the 2007 elections under the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). He was lured into the ACN by some PDP members who decamped due to some internal crisis within the PDP.

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared PDP candidate  Professor Oserheimen Osunbor winner of the governorship election. In fact the PDP won all the contested positions in the state.  But after about one and a half years, the Court overruled  INEC and declared Oshiomhole winner of the 2007 governorship election. Oshiomhole assumed office in November 2008 and the political situations and calculations in Edo state changed.

The changes started to take place when the courts, that is election tribunals and the appeals tribunal, began to annul elections into the house of assembly and ordered re-run elections. In the rerun elections into Akoko Edo and some other areas, the ACN won the elections. Thus  the party started becoming more popular and more acceptable by the people.

As a bandwagon effect we began to see more politicians, especially house of assembly members, local government officials and even National Assembly members decamping to the ACN.

Meanwhile as the ACN celebrated new defectors into its fold the PDP cried foul.  The state chairman of the PDP Chief Dan Orbih accused Governor Oshiomhole and the ACN of witch-hunting the opposition. Dan Orbih said those who were leaving the PDP to ACN were doing so because the government was demolishing their properties in the name of redesigning Benin’s master plan. A good case was that of Chief Bob Izua, former chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) whose motor parks was marked for demolition on the excuse that it was obstructing movement of traffic. Out of fear for the collapse of his business, Bob Izua declared for the ACN. After the declaration, his properties were saved.

With the unfolding scenario in the state, the 2011 general elections is set to take the path of ‘do or die’ between the PDP and the ACN. Other political parties virtually don’t exist in Edo State. Even though the National Chairman of CPC Prince   Tony Momoh hails from Edo State, his party has made no visible impact in the state. Also, Vice Presidential Candidate of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) John Iyegun has no followers in the state.

All said and done, tomorrow’s national assembly election is going to be the first major test of the strength of the two foremost political parties –ACN and the PDP. In fact, the National Assembly election is going to be the toughest election in the state. This is because it is the election that will determine how the other elections in the state will follow. It is neither seen as a fight of the candidates nor a fight of the parties. Tomorrow’s election is a fight between Governor Adams Oshiomhole and Chief Tony Annenih, former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP.

Edo South

In Edo South, it is going to be a contest between the ACN candidate Senator Ehigie Uzamere and the PDP  candidate  Senator Daisy Danjuma. They will both rely on their party machinery for victory.  In 2007, Senator Uzamere defeated Daisy Danjuma, who was in the Senate between 2003 and 2007, in the PDP primaries to claim the party’s ticket. Then Danjuma said it was because of her opposition to third term agenda of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo.  Both of them are now going to engage each other. This time Uzamere has decamped to ACN while  Danjuma who still with PDP,  but the odds appear to  favour Danjuma she is going to use her name to get the vote of large numbers of the Hausa community in the zone to  her advantage.

Edo South

This is also going to be a contest between the ACN candidate Domingo Obende and the PDP candidate  current Senator Yisa Braimoh.  Odds here favour  Domingo Obende. The reason is because Governor Oshiomhole is from this zone.  A vote for Obende will be seen as a vote for Oshiomhole. In the last one year, three House of Assembly rerun elections had taken place in the zone and the ACN won all the three elections. Besides, Yisa Braimoh will be going to the senate for the fourth time if he wins. The people certainly will need a change. But a PDP leader in the area Hassan  Kila believes  PDP will win in the zone. He said this is because the state chairman of the party Dan Orbih and the chief of staff to President Goodluck Jonathan, Mike Ogiedomhe are also from the zone and control a chunk of the voter population.

Edo Central

This is a contest between ACN candidate and the PDP candidate  Senator  Ugbesia.  Ugbesia will be going to the senate for the fourth time if he wins. This is however the zone of Chief Tony Anenih.

The contest for the House of Representatives will also follow the same train as that of the senate with the ACN taking on PDP candidates. But the electorates don’t even know some of the candidates. There is however an exception to this and that is the Akoko Edo Federal constituency, where the house leader and the PDP candidate Hon. Tunde Akogun will have to slug it out  with the  ACN candidate  and the former President of Petroleum and National Gas  Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) Akpatason.

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