The New Problems And Conspiracies Against Oshiomhole

The gist in Benin is that the emergence of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State has become a mortal blow for the political relevance of the immediate past governor of the state, Senator Adams Oshiomhle.

The nexus for such flows from the unbridled support the Oshiomhole camp threw in support of Rep Dennis Idahosa as against the aspiration of the other major candidates and notably, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

Even on the eve of the repeat primaries and after Ize-Iyamu had quit the race to support the party establishment’s quest for power shift to Edo Central, Oshiomhole was still huffing and puffing after Governor Hope Uzodimma had given him what appeared to be a pyrrhic victory.

Following a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, the former Edo governor said that he had the authority of the president to declare that there would be no zoning, an argument that was meant to push forward the ascendancy of Idahosa.

However, reality soon dawned as hours later, the APC machine brought forward Senator Monday Okpebholo as the party’s candidate.

There are many conspiracy theories as concerning the defeat of Rep Idahosa. The most popular of which is the fact that he suffered because of the link to Oshiomhole.

Given the fact that the comrade governor raised the level of infrastructure development in the state to a level not seen since the time of Professor Ambrose Alli, the major drawback for anyone associated with Oshiomhole has to do with his political proclivities, and where not, his mouth.

There were suggestions that the same group of people within the APC who mobilized to sabotage the party’s candidate in the 2020 governorship election, Pastor Ize-Iyamu also acted this time around to stop the former governor from producing the next candidate.

Apparently, they did not want to risk the opportunity of allowing the party lose the governorship seat in Edo as they did in 2020.

A former governor in the Southwest who was famous for the alleged role he played in forcing Oshiomhole out of the office of the national chairman in 2020 was quoted just before the Edo rerun primary as faulting Oshiomhole’s role in supposedly wanting to force his choice on the state.

“Oshiomhole had attempted to eliminate some aspirants from contesting the primaries but failed. This is reminiscent of his high-handedness as national chairman when he manipulatively schemed Governor Godwin Obaseki out of the electoral process. That action led to the unfortunate loss of Edo state by the APC,” Dr Kayode Fayemi said in a statement issued just before last weekend’s rerun primaries.

Another conspiracy theory that has been weaved around the collapse of the Oshiomhole machine has to do with South-South regional politics.

According to those who chronicle this claim, a number of South-South leaders with a view to the post-Tinubu era had clubbed together to diminish Oshiomhole.

These  South-South regional leaders working in cahoots with other national leaders were said to have brought the argument to the party establishment to push Oshiomhole out of reckoning.

The plot according to some is to ensure that the former Edo governor is denied the opportunity of taking glory and ascendancy in Edo State, nay Nigeria by having a governor at his beck and call.

The insinuations are that some emerging South-South leaders within the APC including some in the National Assembly were involved in the conspiracy. Whether Senator Godswill Akpabio was directly involved in this plot is one that cannot be confirmed.

However, some watchers of South-South politics know that Senator Akpabio and Senator Oshiomhole are two powerful captains and it is reasonable to raise the question as to how two of them can captain the South-South ship of the APC pre or post 2027.

Whatever, it appears that the loss by Idahosa and in that vein, by Oshiomhole is now bringing reality to some of the former governor’s enablers.

One of them, Tony Adun, aka Kabaka who was alleged to have played a leading role in the mayhem that occurred during the penultimate week’s primary has apologised and pledged loyalty to Okpebholo.

Kabaka has suffered severely in the course of his association with Oshiomhole. At one time, Governor Godwin Obaseki demolished his hotel and following that slapped him with a N20m bill to pay the government as the cost of demolishing his property!

As it is, if Senator Okpebholo emerges governor, he would certainly not reckon Oshiomhole as a political benefactor. Rather, those men in Abuja who worked the magic and caused folks like Ize-Iyamu, Lucky Imasuen to pull out of the race will be more welcome.

Even more, it is not difficult to remember that Okpebholo and Oshiomhole have been in different camps in Edo State, especially in respect to allegiance to Chief Tony Anenih, the deceased political leader. Whereas Okpbebholo was famous for his loyalty to the leader, Oshiomhole gained notoriety for his sometimes-crass vituperations on Anenih.

While it is true that some are already rejoicing that Oshiomhole has finally been politically buried, they may be doing so at their peril.

When in 2020 Obaseki won re-election, the same things were said about the comrade governor. He, however, returned with a bounce and became established as the leader of the APC in Edo. For now, he may be hiding somewhere, but for the radical unionist who has the fire of struggle in his bone, it is certainly Alluta Continua

Send Us A Press Statement Advertise With Us Contact

 And For More Nigerian News Visit GWG.NG