By John Mayaki<\/p>\n
This distinguished committee headed by Chief Bisi Akande, one of the
\nfounding fathers and leaders of our great party, is the party\u2019s third
\nofficial attempt at reconciliation in the Edo State Chapter of the All
\nProgressives Congress.<\/p>\n
The first two attempts, the latest being the committee constituted and
\nheaded by the Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan, was scuttled by the
\ngovernor of the state, Mr. Godwin Obaseki who, with a wave of the hand,
\npublicly announced his rejection of the committee, accusing the
\ncharacters involved, including fellow governors and national figures of
\nthe APC, of bias and less-than-ideal integrity.<\/p>\n
In the case of the Senate President\u2019s committee, Mr. Godwin Obaseki did
\nnot even wait for the committee to initiate the process of reconciling
\nthe conflicting parties in the state before filling the pages of the
\nnewspaper and other segments of the media with attacks on the
\npersonality of Senator Ahmed Lawan, emboldening his loyalists to
\nreinforce the oppositional line of attack including the abhorrent
\ndesignation of the Senate President as a \u201crubber stamp\u201d official for his
\nwillingness to help the President and Leader of the APC, President
\nMuhammadu Buhari, achieve his \u2018Next Level\u2019 mandate without the kind of
\ninstitutional resistance and unnecessary grandstanding the previous
\nSenate embarked on to the detriment of our great party.<\/p>\n
This is worth retelling as it showcases \u2013 more recently \u2013 and symbolizes
\nthe inflammatory and careless approach Mr. Godwin Obaseki employs in the
\nhandling of matters that relate to politics and governance in Edo State,
\nhis quick resort to media blackmail of individuals he disagrees with
\nirrespective of shared party membership and how the attacks may affect
\nthe party, disregard of stipulated party processes to conflict
\nresolution, and an almost despotic insistence of having his own way in
\nall matters without care for establishing a consensus or even
\nconsidering other interests as it ought to be in a democracy and party
\ndecision making.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, by choosing this path, Mr. Godwin Obaseki set the stage for
\nthe crisis in Edo State and escalated same to the point where his
\nmembership must now be stripped to avoid breaking the morale of teeming
\nmembers in he has mindlessly trampled on and to preserve the principle
\nof party supremacy that places defined laws and processes above
\neverything else.<\/p>\n
Mr. Godwin Obaseki\u2019s emergence in 2016 on the platform of our great
\nparty was a direct product of the leadership of Comrade Adams
\nOshiomhole, and the labor of numerous political actors in the 18 Local
\nGovernment Areas of the state.<\/p>\n
It is without a doubt that his journey right from the primaries to
\ncampaign and subsequently, the election itself was a political process,
\nas is normal in party democracy, and given his own admitted limited
\nknowledge of politics, he relied on the expertise and experience of
\npoliticians in the state loyal to our party to claim victory in a
\ndifficult contest against the formidable Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the
\nthen opposition party.<\/p>\n
To put it simply, Mr. Godwin Obaseki emerged from a political process
\ndesigned and implemented by politicians with added qualifications as
\nprofessionals in various walks of life to carry on the mandate of
\nComrade Adams Oshiomhole whose performance and success helped the APC to
\nbuild trust and gain acceptance in the state.<\/p>\n
However, no sooner did Mr. Godwin Obaseki resume office that he began to
\ncastigate the same process that propelled him into the position. Under
\nthe pretense of \u2018focusing on governance\u2019 as though he is the first
\nelected governor of the state, Mr. Obaseki neglected party matters and
\ntreated leaders and members of the party with disdain in an elitist,
\nrestrictive and disrespectful disposition that left many shocked,
\ndisillusioned and began to consider jumping ship.<\/p>\n
The important work of deepening the ties of the APC with the people of
\nEdo State and broadly the South-South region that began in 2007 before
\nthe merger as Action Congress of Nigeria and continued post-merger as
\nthe united front of the APC replaced the PDP government at the center
\nfaced a deadly prospect under Mr. Godwin Obaseki, exposing members to
\nridicule and promoting the damaging idea that the Edo APC is merely
\nfocused on winning elections and not managing what comes next.<\/p>\n
Mr. Godwin Obaseki in his appointments shunned loyal party members,
\nfavored unknown individuals were incapable of passing any competence
\ntest and placed his own personal relationships above important party
\nconsiderations. This was a problematic factor that resulted in the
\ngovernor handing sensitive positions to members of even the opposition
\nparty, creating real problems for our leaders who had to deal with
\ncomplaints of party faithful who were becoming disillusioned and
\nwondering why the party that won the election is not forming the
\ngovernment as is the usual practice in every democracy across the globe.<\/p>\n
Worse still, under the watch of Mr. Godwin Obaseki, Edo state slipped
\ninto a state of complete disrepair with critical projects abandoned and
\nnew ones commissioned and executed with sub-standard materials leading
\nto near-immediate disintegration, a clear reversal from the days of
\nComrade Adams Oshiomhole whose legacy projects remain solid and visible
\nin the state till this day. All of these made it difficult to justify
\nthe actions of Mr. Godwin Obaseki and his neglect of the party in the
\nstate, especially to members who sold the Obaseki candidacy to their
\nfriends and neighbors and became subjects of ridicule and reproach at
\nthe poor governance that followed.<\/p>\n
When leaders of the party in the state brought these issues to Mr.
\nGodwin Obaseki, he roundly dismissed them and forthwith, began a
\ncampaign of calumny against them in the media, spreading falsehood and
\ndepicting the leaders as \u201clocusts\u201d, \u201ccorrupt people\u201d etc who are
\ndemanding that he \u201cshares Edo people\u2019s money\u201d with them.<\/p>\n
His media aides also had a field day attacking leaders of the Edo APC in
\nthe cyberspace, attaching their images to graphical illustrations
\nbearing weighty but false allegations, effectively tarnishing their
\nimage and exposing them and family to real danger. Unsurprisingly, this
\nreckless and dangerous action found a resistant reaction amongst members
\nof the party whose discontent had simmered for so long.<\/p>\n
With things coming to a head, instead of embracing dialogue and
\naccommodating the interests of others to find a resolution and returning
\nthings back to normal, Mr. Godwin Obaseki dug deeper and began to
\nengineer the illegal arrest and detainment of party leaders at the local
\nlevel, accusing them of all manner of crimes in what represented an
\nabuse of office, misuse of state agencies and bastardization of due
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
The first public consequence of Mr. Godwin Obaseki\u2019s obstinacy and
\nmisguided attack on his own party structure came during the general 2019
\nelections when, as a result of his divisionary tactics, poor
\norganization, fading popularity, and incompetence, Edo State lost to the
\nPDP in the Presidential election, with the governor himself, for the
\nfirst time in the history of the state, failed to deliver his own ward,
\nLocal Government Area and Senatorial District to the APC. As a matter of
\nfact, the party obtained confidential correspondence that showed that
\nMr. Gdowin Obaseki deliberately tanked the ambition of the party\u2019s Edo
\nSouth Senatorial candidate, Hon. Patrick Obahiagbon, causing his defeat
\nbecause he felt the respected and loyal Hon. Patrick who has given years
\nof service to the state and building the APC in Edo will not pay him
\nfealty.<\/p>\n
Similarly, during the primary election for the representatives of Edo
\nState in the Edo House of Assembly, Obaseki\u2019s growing rejection by party
\nmembers also came to the fore when his attempt to rig the nomination
\nprocess was resisted and credible candidates were produced. Initially,
\nwhen the nomination process was concluded, Mr. Godwin Obaseki went to
\ntown decrying the process and baselessly accusing the National Chairman
\nof the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, of swapping the list of
\nnominated candidates in Abuja and replacing them with \u201cunpopular
\nchoices\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, when the APC swept the election and produced all members for
\nthe available 24 seats in the Edo Assembly, the same man recanted his
\nstance, attempting to claim credit for the outcome by posturing that the
\nvictory was a \u2018vote of confidence\u2019 on his administration despite his
\nopposition to the candidates who delivered the victory and his apparent
\nunwise attack of the National Chairman.<\/p>\n
The lie soon came to be exposed when Mr. Godwin Obaseki, once again
\nresorting to force and intimidation, conditioned the inauguration of the
\nAssembly and the swearing-in of the members-elect on the selfish
\nrequirement that they relinquish their age-long,
\nconstitutionally-guaranteed practice of freely electing the leadership
\nof the House and determining the legislative agenda and priorities of
\nthe Assembly.<\/p>\n
Afraid of his own shadow and perhaps fearing retribution for his failed
\nattempt to scuttle their election during the campaign and election
\nstage, Mr. Godwin Obaseki sought to divide the Assembly by imposing a
\nminority rule by propping Mr. Frank Okiye as the only accepted Speaker
\neven though he lacks the backing of the majority of his colleagues and
\nthe House of Assembly is an independent arm of government that can be
\nlobbied but not harassed into a decision.<\/p>\n
To fulfill this selfish and condemnable desire, on the 17th of June
\n2019, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, acting through his Deputy, Philip Shaibu,
\nforcefully hijacked nine out of the 24 members-elect and assembled them
\nat the Assembly complex where they were compelled to swear oath of
\ninauguration and purportedly elect Frank Okiye as the Speaker of the
\nAssembly during nocturnal hours.<\/p>\n
As follow up to this illegal action, the majority of the members-elect
\nwho refused to be a part of the sham process and insisted on the right
\nthing, including a well-publicized and circulated proclamation of
\ninauguration served to all members-elect indicating time and venue for
\nthe inauguration exercise contrary to the nocturnal affair conducted by
\nthe governor, came under attack by thugs led by Mr. Godwin Obaseki\u2019s
\npersonal security aide, Michael Nwankwo, at the Golden Tulip hotel in
\nBenin City on the 19th of June 2019. They suffered physical assault and
\nsome were hospitalized including Hon. Crossby Eribo.<\/p>\n
Thus began a concerning wave of attacks and state-sponsored violence in
\nthe state. Even though both arms of the National Assembly controlled by
\nour great party, in independent investigations, arrived at the
\nresolution that Mr. Godwin Obaseki issue a fresh proclamation for the
\nconduct of a legal and inclusive inauguration ceremony for the Edo
\nAssembly, he refused and violated the party constitution which holds
\nthat members are not allowed to seek court intervention in internal
\ncrisis without first exhausting the stipulated means and mechanisms of
\nconflict resolution by the leadership of the party when he dragged the
\nNational Assembly to multiple courts in the country, portraying the
\nparty as one that lacks discipline and providing the opposition at the
\nstate and national level with ammunition to offer scathing criticisms of
\nthe APC to the public.<\/p>\n
Mr. Godwin Obaseki denied representation to dozens of constituencies in
\nEdo state that placed their trust in the APC and doubled down in his
\nviolence and threats, including at a vanity rally held in Benin city
\nwhere he essentially gave a public endorsement to non-state actors to
\nunleash violence on anyone perceived to be against his political
\ndesires, including any delegation sent by the national leadership of the
\nAll Progressives Congress.<\/p>\n
When the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, in his
\nposition as the leader of the party, waded into the crisis and called
\nfor all parties to abide by the party constitution, Mr. Godwin Obaseki,
\naware that his actions contravene the constitution and indeed all known
\nlegal laws and moral decency, personalized the call and heightened his
\nattack on the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, framing him as an overbearing
\ngodfather and tried to turn the public against him.<\/p>\n
On multiple occasions, including on the 3rd of November 2019 during the
\nconvocation ceremony of Edo State University, Iyamho, attended by the
\nOba of Lagos and other eminent guests, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, seeking to
\nembarrass the National Chairman and pinning the state-sponsored violence
\nhe is driving on him, attacked the residence of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole
\nwith some thugs led on a motorcycle by his Deputy Philip Shaibu as seen
\nin pictures that made the rounds on the internet. Not stopping there,
\nusing the pliable and suspended former Chairman of Edo APC, Anselm
\nOjezua, Mr. Godwin Obaseki carelessly and unwisely announced a said
\nsuspension of the National Chairman of the APC, a deeply embarrassing
\nevent and an affront on the National Working Committee as well as other
\nleaders of the party across the country that endorsed the emergence of
\nComrade Adams Oshiomhole and have expressed confidence in his service.
\nHe took the embarrassment a notch higher with his recent submission of a
\npetition to the Police and DSS demanding the immediate arrest of the
\nNational Chairman.<\/p>\n
As it stands, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, bent on imposing himself on the party
\nand the state for another term, has attempted to jeopardize the growth
\nand expansion efforts of dedicated party members who are working hard to
\nbring new people into the party to strengthen its numbers ahead of the
\nforthcoming election. Even though their job is already made harder by
\nthe obvious incompetence of Mr. Godwin Obaseki, he has now\u00a0 restricted
\nmembership of the APC only to ingratiating persons who accept his return
\nas an inevitable outcome even though this runs against the principle of
\ninternal democracy and non-forceful consensus that the party is built
\non.<\/p>\n
This came to play when Mr. Godwin Obaseki tried to block the return of
\nPastor Osagie Ize Iyamu, a well-followed and influential politician in
\nthe state whose membership of the APC will definitely help her fortunes
\nat the polls, by announcing an undemocratic ban on political gathering
\nand rallies, setting the stage for his thugs who attacked and burned the
\nscheduled venue where the Edo APC planned to ceremoniously receive
\nPastor Iyamu into its fold alongside thousands of his members.<\/p>\n
Using this illegal ban as an excuse, even though the constitution is
\nclear on the body with the authority to issue such ban and the
\nconditions under which it can be used to guard against suppression of
\ndissent and denial of the freedom to assemble and voice support for a
\ncause, Mr. Godwin Obaseki continues to attack rallies of the APC
\nincluding the ones held recently in Edo North and Edo Central to welcome
\ndefectors.<\/p>\n
Beside the National Chairman of the party, Barrister Henry Idahagbon,
\nChief Lawrence Okah and other leaders of the APC in the state have come
\nunder assassination attacks for their opposition to Mr. Godwin Obaseki.
\nWhile they managed to escape, other party members have not been so lucky
\nwith many still receiving treatment at various hospitals across the
\nstate for injuries suffered at the hands of thugs empowered by the state
\ngovernment and given a free rein to unleash terror on anyone not caving
\nto the tyrannical desire of Mr. Godwin Obaseki. Houses have been
\ndemolished, businesses sealed and life cut short as Mr. Godwin Obaseki
\nhas blurred the line between the personal and official, using state
\nagencies and public resources in his personal quest to crown himself
\nKing of Edo politics –\u00a0 against popular desire.<\/p>\n
For months now, as Mr. Godwin Obaseki continues to ridicule leaders of
\nthe APC and disregard their attempt at managing the crisis, he has
\npublicly opened talks with leading figures in the opposition party,
\nfraternizing with them and fueling rumors of a plan to decimate the APC
\nbefore abandoning it for another party in the coming days.<\/p>\n
From the few cited instances and ugly incidents, it has become glaring
\nthat Mr. Godwin Obaseki is a bad party member incapable of the summoning
\nthe loyalty, decency, maturity and respect for hierarchy required to
\nsteer the ship of the APC successfully in Edo state. His actions, and
\ninaction, have done real damage to the party, inflicted injuries on
\nscores of members, and sowed seeds of division that can only be uprooted
\nwith him.<\/p>\n
The party cannot move forward with the continued membership of Mr.
\nGodwin Obaseki and his cohorts as that would be implicitly promoting the
\nmessage that the leadership lacks the authority to exert punishment on
\nan errant member that crossed every possible line in presenting an
\naffront to the founding ideals and institutional authority of the All
\nProgressives Congress. Worse still, given his incompetence and already
\ncemented legacy as a traitor and treacherous individual, the people of
\nEdo state have made clear their rejection of Obaseki. At present,
\nbecause of his actions, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has become a liability and
\ncancer to the All Progressives Congress.\u00a0 A clean, surgical removal and
\neviction is the only possible solution.<\/p>\n
Mayaki is a Professional Consultant on Communication, Management and
\nStrategy.<\/p>\n
By John Mayaki This distinguished committee headed by Chief Bisi Akande, one of the founding fathers and leaders of our great party, is the party\u2019s third official attempt at reconciliation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n