How Obaseki’s Long-Time Rival Settled Scores Last Saturday (Video)

After years of turning the other cheek for Governor Godwin Obaseki, two-time member of the House of Representatives, Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama has finally gotten his pound of flesh from the outgoing governor of the state.

The two men had severally engaged one another in the Edo political theatre with Ogbeide-Ihama succumbing almost consistently to the political leverages of Governor Obaseki.

GWG.ng reports that the first outing was in 2020 when Ogbeide-Ihama was set to pick the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. However, his roller-coaster political ride was cut short when Obaseki having been spurned by his former party, All Progressives Congress, APC was forced to seek shelter under the PDP umbrella.

At that time Ogbeide-Ihama was at the behest of PDP governors prevailed to step down his aspiration. Nyesom Wike who brokered the deal has come out to say that Ogbeide-Ihama cried over the move as he had invested much resources and goodwill into the project.

The former member was promised a Senate ticket among other considerations.

Alas, it was a sort of irony on election day in 2020 when Ogbeide-Ihama instead of being the candidate served as the returning officer for Obaseki and that was after successfully delivering his Oredo Federal Constituency.

However, that appeared to be where the romance stopped. Indeed, Obaseki pressed further against Ogbeide-Ihama when he summoned a meeting of government officials and some party officials in October 2021 and announced the suspension of the former lawmaker and Chief Dan Orbih, the powerful national vice-chairman, South-South of the PDP.

However, that suspension did not get party approval as it was overlooked.

Ahead of the 2024 governorship election the two of them again clashed when Governor Obaseki pushed through Dr Asue Ighodalo for the party ticket and Ogbeide-Ihama was forced to step aside following allegations that there was no level playing field.

As he stepped out of the race, there were insinuations that he had been picked as the running mate to Senator Monday Okpebholo who had emerged as the candidate of the APC in Edo State.

However, that deal fell through after Senator Adams Oshiomhole reportedly pushed through Dennis Idahosa, the man he had originally canvassed for the governorship ticket. Despite losing the battle for the PDP governorship ticket and the running mate of the APC ticket, Ogbeide-Ihama was not deterred as he formally defected like many other PDP chiefs to the APC just before the election.

When he joined the APC just before the election, Ogbeide-Ihama vowed that he would deliver the APC in Oredo and disgrace Governor Obaseki who is from the same constituency.

He said:

“The governor and I are from the same local government area and the result will tell. We did it for him in 2020 we will give it to Monday Okpebholo on Saturday.

GWG.ng reports that the results produced from Oredo underlined the resolve of Ogbeide-Ihama as the APC triumphed in the results produced by INEC with 30,780 to the PDP’s 24,724.

It is perhaps Ogbeide-Ihama’s last laugh as his years of rivalry and engagements with Obaseki come to an end.

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