By John Mayaki<\/p>\n
Recently, with glee, the embattled Governor of Edo State addressed
\njournalists from the Aso Rock. Soon, newspaper reports emerged, but most
\nimportantly, the illustrious HD picture of Obaseki, on a surgical face
\nmask, presenting his Expression of Interest Form to President Muhammad
\nBuhari. And that was what he said was his mission: to show the President
\nof the Federal Republic of Nigeria the form that shows the expression of
\nhis interest in contesting for a second term in Edo State gubernatorial.<\/p>\n
It is an honest ambition and a harmless visit but it is not for nothing
\nthat the governor is described as ’embattled.’ Therefore, it is not for
\nnothing that Obaseki is showing his nomination form to the number one
\ncitizen of Nigeria–the President. Was he even presenting? Was it
\nnecessary to present? Or was he in an entirely different mission, one
\ntoo known in the recent Nigerian political history? Was Obaseki trying
\nto draw favour in the sight of the President? Given that there were
\nother high-class meetings, for example, to the National Leader’s place,
\nBola Ahmed Tinubu, was Obaseki simply begging for mercy and
\nconsideration? If he is, then he is not alone, not the first to do so,
\nwill not be the last, and they’re definitely lessons from the past.<\/p>\n
The past includes, among so many other examples, the very recent and
\nmuch-publicized Owelle Rochas Okorocha experience in 2019. The plot is
\nthe same, except for a few peculiar characters and devices. The setting,
\nalbeit different in geography, is still but within the State
\nGubernatorial framework. The saga, the contest, raged for long and drew
\nto the ultimate climax of finally consulting the President and the
\nNational Leader, Muhammad Buhari and Bola Ahmed Tinubu, urging them to
\ninfluence the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, to accept his
\n(Rochas) son-in-law as the party’s governorship candidate of Imo State.<\/p>\n
And there is the Ogun State example, one that commanded and held
\nnational attention, across geo-political zones and parties. For the then
\noutgoing Governor Ibikunle Amosun, after a long drawn battle and
\nmuddying of still waters, he went deeper in his emissary, employing even
\ntraditional rulers into the train of delegates that went for the
\nofficial plea of consideration. They went to Buhari, and also to Tinubu,
\nseeking that Amosun’s candidate be adopted and made the party’s
\ncandidate in Ogun State.<\/p>\n
There are also Northern case studies. Governor Abdulazeez Yari, the
\nChairman of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum begged both Buhari and Tinubu
\nto prevail on Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to accept his candidate.<\/p>\n
Finally, there is the most popular example – the widely followed Ambode
\nLagos treatment. Governor Akinwumi Ambode used all the governors in
\nNigeria, he in fact even used both local and international connections
\nto beg both Buhari, Tinubu, and Oshiomhole to give him a soft landing in
\nLagos.<\/p>\n
The final outcome of all these examples is renowned. It is not that the
\nbegging crew failed and that the people for which they interceded ended
\nup not achieving, becoming, or keeping the position they lusted after.
\nPutting it that way translates as insulting all the involved
\npersonalities and letting an important lesson elude us. The important
\nsignificance drawn from how all these examples ended up is the
\nhigh-quality democracy found in the All Progressives Congress.<\/p>\n
There is no doubt if the men who were being begged and urged to move
\nbody and exert influence are capable of doing so. They are. The
\ninstructive element in the whole plot is the emergence of a new reality,
\nof a new spirit and character, one that Nigerians have for long yearned
\nfor. It is a situation where our democracy is strengthened, where it
\nbecomes a politics of and for the people, and not of and by powerful
\nindividuals. And so it is not about one begging and his or her wish not
\ngranted, rather of the respect of democratic principles and ultimate
\nsubmission to the supremacy of the party, its ideal, provisions, and
\nlaws.<\/p>\n
This is why Governor Obaseki’s beggarly visit to the Aso Rock and
\nBourdillion is not just a waste of time and resources but a horror show
\nof a lack of understanding of history–even as recent as last year.
\nClearly, the visitations will not stop APC direct primary election in
\nEdo and it is not because the President and the National Leader are not
\nkind and understanding people but because they both believe in party’s
\nsupremacy and rule of law, and they see why it must be respected.<\/p>\n
Failure to do so will set an unnecessary exceptionality and even hurt
\nthe persons in the past experiences and examples. Manipulating the party
\nprocess for Obaseki to emerge would simply be a reward for bad behavior
\nand will set a dangerous precedent for the future. Obaseki’s fate will
\nbe decided by party members, like in all the examples above, and like it
\nshould in an ideal democratic setting. People should stop mounting
\npressure on Oshiomhole because it is unfair and unkindly set him out as
\nwicked and unbending. But he isn’t because he is just a man standing
\nguard to process and structure, things without a party as great as ours
\nbecome another rudderless association.<\/p>\n
Yet there is an antithesis to the current development. Godwin Obaseki,
\nthe man who is at the center of this beggarly movements, is the one who
\nhad vehemently oppose all the past endeavors targetted towards peace and
\nreconciliation. He went to court to bar the Ganduje Reconciliation
\nCommittee from even coming into the state. He also shunned the
\nresolution of the APC-led National Assembly and even went further ahead
\nto sponsor denigrating media posts labeling the leadership of the
\nAssembly as “rubber stamp”.<\/p>\n
A neutral observer will at this point ask: what then is the point? And By John Mayaki Recently, with glee, the embattled Governor of Edo State addressed journalists from the Aso Rock. Soon, newspaper reports emerged, but most importantly, the illustrious HD picture of…<\/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-73874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nthat, exactly, is the most pertinent question. So far, there is a
\nconsistent pattern in the end result of political begging in APC: you
\nwill be met with goodwill, you will be wished well, you will be given
\nequal opportunity, and then you will go through party process, guided by
\nthe law and structure, and that will be all. This has been the case
\nyesterday, this is the case today, and this will be the case tomorrow.
\nThe very beauty of APC, the hallmark of its achievements, and the unique
\ncharacter that sets it apart is that institution trumps individual and
\nit is important, even in the face of serious temptations, that it
\nremains this way.
\n—<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"