Opinion
Edo 2024: Heading to tribunal, Ighodalo dashes Okpebholo’s hope for ‘congratulation’
By Ehichioya Ezomon
The typical politician shows only one part of their persona when campaigning for elective office. They tell the public that they seek the political position simply – and solely – to render service to the people. They deny the craving for further expansion of their private frontiers with public power, resources, and influence!
Note that the tongue-in-cheek politician or politico-technocrat doesn’t render any noticeable service – not to talk of a selfless one – for the general good, but only to themselves, their immediate and extended families, friends, business associates and old school mates, if they still remember them.
The grassroots are never in the reckoning of the average politician or technocrat until it comes to seeking to occupy an elective position. If their competitors abridged their ambition, they rave and rant in the media about a “stolen mandate” allegedly given to them by the very people they’ve never considered on their way to the top.
The tenacious efforts to “retrieve the stolen mandate” – with a huge financial outlay to hire several of the best and most expensive senior lawyers – betrays the politician’s selfish reason for wanting to serve in an elective position. If really their interest is genuine – and the people they seek to serve have rejected them at the ballot – why not simply shrug their shoulder and honourably bow and retreat?
Not so with the Nigerian politician, who sees the alure of elective office so tempting as to declare the fight for it a do-or-die affair that entertains no failure at the poll, nor a concrete and peaceful plan of exit. Rather, the politician will cry foul that their “mandate has been stolen.”
They’ll rile up their party base, supporters and critics with inflammatory statements against the actual “mandate holder,” and the electoral umpire that may’ve made that declaration without bias, or being influenced, but in accordance with the laws of the election. They’ll follow up their criticisms and condemnation with a threat to – and actually – go to the Election Petitions Tribunal, to “regain the stolen mandate.”
This illustrates the step-by-step reaction and actions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State, Dr Asue Ighodalo, who lost to the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo (APC, Edo Central).
Let’s briefly look at Ighodalo’s reason for elective office vis-a-vis his rationale for vowing to go for broke at the tribunal, which he hinted about in his thank-you message to Edo people on September 23 in Benin City. The message was entitled, “My good people of Edo State, in all things, we must first give thanks to God.”
According to Ighodalo: “We are grateful for the gift of life, health, and your overwhelming love and support throughout this journey. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who stood by us. Your unwavering dedication has fueled our campaign and kept us moving forward.
“I particularly thank the brave people of Edo State who, despite rain, threats, and intimidation, cast their votes on September 21, 2024. Your resilience is the bedrock of our democracy. You are the true heroes of this moment, and your courage will never be forgotten. Your sacrifice paves the way for a brighter Edo State, one built on integrity and justice.
“My aspiration has never been about power. It has always been a genuine desire to serve and create prosperity for all in Edo State, for every man, woman, and child. I visited every ward, every local government, sharing this vision of hope and listening to your dreams. Your voices strengthened my resolve to fight for a better future.
“To our dedicated supporters, I thank you deeply for your belief in this cause. Your time, conversations, and votes carried us far beyond expectations. We ran a great campaign together, and your support was clear. Sadly, our progress was abruptly halted by those who don’t care for the people or the future of Edo.
“September 21, 2024, will be remembered as a dark day. The brazen theft of our mandate and the silencing of your voice was a grave injustice. But we must not be discouraged. Evil’s temporary victory can never erase the truth. Our quest for prosperity is just beginning, not ending.”
Certainly, Ighodalo, being a politico-technocrat, has subsumed his professing of “service to the people,” to gain the elusive elective office of Governor by all means possible. Rejecting the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC’s) declaration of Okpebholo, Ighodalo heads to the courts for an epic legal battle to retrieve his “stolen mandate.”
Unless the unforeseen, and unexpected happens, Ighodalo – if he chooses to run the gamut of the law – has 10 months of six months at the Election Petitions Tribunal, two months at the Appeal Court and two months at the Supreme Court, in that order, to exhaust his case.
In an interview on Channels TV’s ‘Politics Today’ on September 27, as reported by Daily Trust, Ighodalo accused the INEC and the Police of colluding to rob him of his “mandate,” stating that many voters were disenfranchised, amid evidence of rampant over-voting, and alteration of results.
Ighodalo said: “There was a collusion between the INEC and the police to suppress the will of the people of Edo State. People of Edo State purposely voted for us (PDP). We won the election clearly. It is painful because you have many young people who felt that they were disenfranchised in the past; they feel that their votes were not counted and they asked what kind of democracy we run.
“I had been trying to encourage them, that make sure your votes count but we have serious collusion by INEC and the APC working towards votes not counting. But this time around, we will go through the judicial process and the vote will count. We are quite clear that with the evidence we have, we will show clearly that we won the election. And the mandate of the people will be upheld.”
Exonerating the PDP from vote-buying, Ighodalo added: “We were not involved in vote buying at all. APC agents came with minted notes straight from the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria); they were offering N20,000, N30,000 and N50,000 per vote. Our guys went to them and told them, ‘you can’t come here to buy votes.'”
Very weighty allegations of disenfranchisement of voters; suppression of votes; over-voting; buying of votes; alteration of results; fraudulent process; and connivance of the APC, INEC and Police to flip Ighodalo’s “victory” for Okpebholo. To get judgment(s), though, at the courts, Ighodalo and the PDP must “prove these allegations beyond all reasonable doubts,” and “in substantial compliance” with the relevant electoral laws in Nigeria.
However, it appears Ighodalo and the PDP are poised to run their election petitions at the tribunal along with an indefinite protest to pressure the INEC to reverse its declaration of Okpebholo as the winner of the poll, and restore Ighodalo’s reported “stolen mandate.”
Kicking off the protest in Benin City on October 2, the party leaders, including the Edo chapter chairman, Dr Anthony Aziegbemi, the Director-General of the PDP Campaign Council, Hon. Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, and the Deputy Director-General (Media and Publicity), Rev. Olu Martins, carried placards, demanding that INEC return the “stolen mandate” by declaring Dr Ighodalo as “the authentic winner of the governorship election.”
Stating that the protest was to inform the world that Ighodalo had won the election, and that the INEC altered the results of certain local governments in favour of another candidate, Aziegbemi thanked the PDP supporters for “joining this journey to reclaim our stolen mandate, which was subverted by both the police and INEC.”
“If we had lost in a free and fair contest, we would have congratulated them (Okpebholo and APC), but they stole our mandate. Therefore, we cannot congratulate them,” Aziegbemi said. “This is Nigeria; we will not allow our victory to be stolen. We are confident that the overwhelming evidence we will present will help recover our mandate.”
Aziegbemi urged the supporters to “remain patient,” while the judiciary reviews the evidence impartially, “and recognises that the PDP rightfully won the election, and delivers a fair judgment.”
As Ighodalo takes his defeat to the tribunal, a chieftain of the PDP and Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Blessing Agbebaku, has congratulated Okpebholo on his victory. This comes as Agbebaku welcomed members of the assembly back from a very long recess on October 2, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Agbebaku, who’s third in the hierarchy of elected and appointed officials in the state, and a major player in the September 21 poll, noted that “the Governor-elect is for all Edo people, and not just the APC,” and expressed the hope that sycophants wouldn’t mislead Okpebholo from running an inclusive government.
Meanwhile, Okpebholo – after he and Deputy Governor-elect Dennis Idahosa presented their Certificates of Return to President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on September 26 – stated that if he were in Ighodalo’s shoes, he’d congratulate the winner of the election.
Okpebholo, fielding questions from State House correspondents on what he would’ve done had he lost the governorship, and what does his election portend for Edo State, said: “I think Edo people have spoken with their votes. For me, I’m coming as a servant to serve Edo people. That is what is required of me, and that is exactly what I am going to do.
“My election as Governor of Edo signals a new dawn for the State. So, very soon, we will see a lot of developments coming to Edo. A lot will be happening over time.”
Promising to run an open-door administration – and urging those who lost at the election to bear the pain with fortitude – Okpebholo declared: “If I had lost, I would have to bear it, and I would have, by now, congratulated the winner. So, I’m expecting them to congratulate me.”
To the typical politician, accepting electoral defeat is easier said than done, notwithstanding their parroting of service the people. As he’s not affected in the instant scenario, Okpebholo can afford to sing a different tune from Ighodalo’s, who’s taken the optional legal route for remedy to his poll grievances.
If Okpebholo were defeated on September 21, it could only take his will power – via the grace of the Lord – to take a page from the playbook of former President Goodluck Jonathan and ex-Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, to say to the winner, “I congratulate you for your victory at the election.”
Does Okpebholo possess such will power, to resist the pressures from his immediate family, the campaign organisation, political party, financial backers, supporters, aides and consultants not to cave in, and congratulate the opponent that beat him to the second position at the ballot? Yet, must politicians serve the people by force, by going to the tribunal to regain a “stolen mandate” that’s most often a figment of their imagination?
Ighodalo congratulating Okpebholo or not is immaterial at this stage of the long journey to the Osadebey Avenue Government House seat of power in Benin City, Edo State capital city. What matters is Okpebholo’s choice to waste or make judicious use of the first months at his disposal – within which the election petitions and appeals are dispensed with – to prove his mettle that he’s the right person for Governor of Edo State from November 11, 2024!
Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria
By Tunde Olusunle
It may be well over two years to the next cycle of general elections in Nigeria. For the people of Apa/Agatu federal constituency in *Benue South, however, the measure of their participation and integration into the governance scheme will be defined in the run-up to the general polls that year. Nine local government areas make up the predominantly Idoma country of Benue State also labelled Zone C in the senatorial tripod of the geo-polity. The zone is also home to the Igede ethnic stock and the Etulo. Local government areas in “Benue Zone C” include: Apa, Agatu, Oju, Obi, Ado, Ogbadibo, Okpokwu, Otukpo and Ohimini. The other zones, Benue North East and Benue North West, are wholly dominated by the Tiv nationality, striding across 14 local government areas. They are christened Zone A and Zone B in the local political scheme of the state. Federal constituencies in Benue South are: Apa/Agatu, Oju/Obi; Ado/Ogbadibo/Opokwu and Otukpo/Ohimini.
The subjugation of groups and ethnicities considered demographically smaller, by the larger groups which has dominated Nigeria’s politics over time, has not been any different for the Idoma of Benue State. Until the circumstantial emergence of a Yahaya Bello from the Ebira ethnicity in Kogi State in 2015, the Igala had the relay baton of governorship of Kogi State, in rounds and succession. The Ebiras and the Okun-Yoruba zones in the state could only aspire to be serial deputies or Secretaries to the State Government. This political template was virtually cast in stone. The Ilorin people of Kwara State have similarly wholly warehoused the gubernatorial office, sparingly conceding the position to other sociocultural groups in the state. The only exception was the concession of the seat to a candidate from Kwara South, in the person of Abdulfatah Ahmed, by his predecessor, Bukola Saraki in 2011. Even at that, there were murmurs and dissent from those who believed Ahmed came from a community too close to the Ilorin emirate to be of genuine Igbomina stock, which prides itself as the pure Yoruba species in Kwara State.
Twenty-six years into the Fourth Republic, the maximum proximity of the Idoma to Government House, Makurdi, has been by the customary allocation of the Deputy Governor’s slot to its people. Ogirri Ajene from Oju/Obi, the charismatic blue-blood of blessed memory, was deputy to George Akume, incumbent Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), from 1999 to 2007. Akume it was reported, genuinely desired to be succeeded by Ajene who exhibited competence and loyalty and could build on their legacies. The Tiv nation we understand, shot down the proposal. Gabriel Suswam succeeded Akume and had the urbane multipreneur, Stephen Lawani from Ogbadibo as deputy. Samuel Ortom, a Minister in the Goodluck Jonathan presidency who took over from Suswam opted for Benson Abounu, an engineer from Otukpo as running mate, while Hyacinth Alia, the Catholic priest who succeeded Ortom, also chose as deputy, Samuel Ode, who was also a Minister in the Jonathan government, from Otukpo. Arising from this precedence, Apa/Agatu has not for once, been considered for a place in Government House, Makurdi.
In similar fashion, the position of Senator representing Benue South, has repeatedly precluded Apa/Agatu federal constituency. David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark a former army General from Otukpo, took the first shot at the office in 1999. He was to remain in the position for five consecutive times, a distinctive record by Nigerian standards. Mark would subsequently become President of the Senate and the third most senior political office holder in the nation’s governance scheme for a string of two terms between 2007 and 2015. He was replaced by Patrick Abba Moro, who hails from Okpokwu and was a former teacher, in 2019. Abba Moro who previously served as Minister of Interior in the Jonathan government from 2011 to 2015, won a second term at the 2023 general elections and remains substantive Senator for “Benue Zone C.” He is indeed incumbent Minority Leader of the Senate, and thus a principal officer in the leadership scheme of the “red chambers.”
While Moro is barely two years into his second term, there are suggestions that he is interested in a third term which should run from 2027 to 2031! This is the core issue which has dominated contemporary political discourse in Benue South, especially from the Apa/Agatu bloc. For Apa/Agatu, it is bad enough that they are repeatedly bypassed in the nomination of deputy governors in the scheme of state politics. It is worse that they are equally subjugated by their own kinsmen within the context of politics in *Idoma and Igede land.* This is particularly worrying when both local government areas constituting the Apa/Agatu federal constituency, Apa and Agatu, are not in anyway deficient in human resources to represent Benue South. Names like John Elaigwu Odogbo, the incumbent *Och’Idoma* and respected clergy; Isa Innocent Ekoja, renowned Professor and Librarian; Sonny Togo Echono, FNIA, OON, Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFUND), and John Mgbede, Emeritus State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Benue State, readily come to mind.
Major General R.I. Adoba, (rtd), a former Chief Training and Operations in the Nigerian Army; Professor Emmanuel Adanu, former Director of the Kaduna-based National Water Resources Institute, (NWRI) and the US-based specialist in internal medicine, Dr Raymond Audu, are eminent Apa/Agatu constituents. There are also Ada Egahi, long-serving technocrat who retired from the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, (NPHDA), and Super Eagles forward, Moses Simon, (why not, hasn’t the retired soccer star, George Opong Weah just completed his term as President of Liberia)? The Member Representing Apa/Agatu in the House of Representatives, Godday Samuel Odagboyi, an office previously held by Solomon Agidani, as well as Adamu Ochepo Entonu, is, like his predecessors, a prominent figure from the resourceful Apa/Agatu federal constituency.
The Olofu brothers, Tony Adejoh, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, (AIG), and David, PhD, a renowned management and financial strategist, who is also an Emeritus Member of the Benue State Executive Council during the Ortom dispensation, are from the same federal constituency. So is Abu Umoru, a serial entrepreneur who represents Apa State Constituency in the Benue State House of Assembly. The continuing intra-zonal alienation of Apa-Agatu from the politics of Benue Zone C, remains a sore thumb which must be clinically diagnosed and intentionally treated in the run-up to 2027.
If previous top level political office holders from Idomaland in general and Apa/Agatu in particular, had diligently applied themselves to tangible, multisectoral development of the zone and constituency, the present clamour for inclusiveness would probably been less vociferous. *River Agatu* which flows from Kogi State, and runs through Agatu before emptying into *River Benue,* is a potential game changer in the socioeconomy of Apa/Agatu, Benue South and Benue State in general. Properly harnessed, it can revolutionise agriculture and aquaculture in the state, beyond subsistence levels which are the primary vocations of the indigenous people. Rice, yam, guinea corn, millet and similar grains, thrive in the fertile soils of the area. These can support “first level” processing of produce and guarantee value addition beneficial to the primary producers, before being shipped to other markets. River Agatu can indeed be dammed to provide hydro-electricity to power the entire gamut of Idomaland.
The infrastructure deficit in Benue South with specific reference to Apa/Agatu is equally very concerning. A notable pattern in Nigerian politics is its self-centeredness, the penchant for political players to prioritise their personal wellbeing and the development of their immediate space. This has accentuated the ever recurring desire of people to ascend the political pedestals of their predecessors if that is the principal window by which they can also privilege their own primary constituents. Motorable roads are non-existent, seamless travel between communities therefore encumbered. Expectedly this has been a major impediment to subsistent trade and social engagements between constituents and their kinsmen. Primary health facilities are almost non-existent, compelling people to flock to Otukpo, headquarters of Benue South, for the minutest of medical advice and treatment.
Apa/Agatu pitiably bleeds from the relentless and condemnable activities of vagrants and bandits who have reduced the constituency into a killing field. Reports suggest that in the past 15 years, no less than 2500 lives were lost to the vicious attacks of marauders and trespassers in the area under reference. This unnerving situation has compelled engagements between concerned Apa/Agatu leaders, and the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force, (NPF). The prayer is for the swift establishment of a mobile police outpost in the troubled sub-zone to contain bloodletting. The proposal, anchored by AIG Tony Olofu, NPOM, (rtd), and Echono, has received the blessings of the police high command. At the last update, a commander for the outfit had been named, while the deployment of personnel had begun in earnest.
It is very clear that in the march towards 2027, Apa/Agatu will refuse, very vehemently, to be sidelined and trampled upon in the political scheme of their senatorial zone. Abba Moro may desire a third term in the Senate, but the people of Apa/Agatu are quick to remind him that his curriculum vitae as a politician is sufficiently sumptuous for him to yield the seat in the “red chambers” and sit back like an elder statesman. They remind you that for a man who began his working life modestly as a lecturer in the Federal Polytechnic, Ugbokolo in 1991, Abba Moro has done extremely well for himself in Nigerian politics. For reminders, Abba Moro was elected Chairman of Okpokwu local government in the state as far back as 1998. Ever since, he has remained a permanent fixture in Nigeria’s national politics.
The people of Apa/Agatu will put up a determined fight for the Benue South senatorial seat in 2027, and no one should begrudge them. They are the proverbial ram which was pushed to the wall, which must of necessity push back with angered horns to liberate itself. They are already engaging with their kith across “Benue Zone C” to ensure that intra-zonal equity, fairness and justice, prevails in communal politics.
Tunde Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), teaches Creative Writing at the University of Abuja
By Dr. Ag Zaki
On Thursday, 9 January 2025, Prince Adewole Adebayo presented a keynote address at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos. The occasion was the annual conference of a group of professionals, business executives and experts codenamed J9C for January 9 Collective. The theme of the Conference was “Business and Policy Strategy: Examining the Role of Reform in enhancing the ease of doing business in Nigeria.” Prince Adebayo is a versatile cerebral man of many parts, a lawyer, a multimedia practitioner, a real estate investor, a large-scale miner, a philanthropist, a community developer, and the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The organisers of the J9C conference introduced him as an intercontinental lawyer because he currently practices law in over sixteen countries.
The full speech of Prince Adebayo at the occasion is available online and can be accessed by clicking at this url: https://youtu.be/SsHkcJbVNRg?si=ebvoOVqGh0zVOsnt or by scanning the QR code above. However, we are presenting the salient take-aways from this most incisive keynote address below for the convenience of interested persons and for the public good.
THE TAKE-AWAYS
Preamble
1. Not every change of policy or programme is a reform. A reform is a fundamental change in the activities, programmes, and policies structured to cause improvement. Genuine government reforms are people oriented and so citizens can interject, comment or contribute.
2. Reform may be internally motivated, externally forced or imposed, or technological driven.
3. The government of Nigeria must first reform itself to be able to implement development-oriented reforms to improve the country’s economic performance.
In general terms
4. Fiscal and monetary reforms are critical and are urgently required in Nigeria. While government can freely control its fiscal reforms, it must be bound by market forces for realistic and realisable monetary reforms.
5. Economic reforms must positively affect developmental policies, programmes and projects to engender economic growth, increase in efficiency, and lead to stability. Economic and political reforms must be implemented pari-passu for untainted policies and programmes.
6. Urgent structural reforms are required in areas of legal reforms, laws on banking controls and regulations, lending and borrowing as well as land matters.
In specific terms
7. Reforms which are aimed at targeting ease of doing business must be aligned with the Malam Aminu Kano maxim that “all civil servants should abstain from contracts or business”.
8. Nigeria must break the current odious and unwholesome conspiracies between policy makers, civil servants, and contractors, which can lead to irreversible endemic corruption, long foreseen by the revered Malam Aminu Kano, and which can permanently damage the economy.
9. Structural reforms must ensure that land laws open up maximum benefits and potentials of the land, encourage labour productivity and efficient and transparent entrepreneurship rules including registration, capital and lending matters.
10. Tax reforms should be broad-based, not about sharing of revenue but promoting productivity and competitiveness in all aspects of endeavours and infrastructure reforms should make transportation of people and goods safe and cost effective.
11. Monitoring economic crimes must be thorough and should go beyond arresting of “Yahoo boys” and those spraying Naira notes, but those devaluing the Naira and abusing economic rules and regulations.
Warnings
12. Adebayo left some stern terse warnings for the business sector and for the government of Nigeria.
13. Business executives and professionals should not ask or encourage government for specific reforms but for general broad-based reforms as firm-specific reforms can enhance operations of specific firms or business in the short term but will ultimately kill the industry.
14. Government should not meddle into business or be guided by partisan businessmen; government should meet business only at the junction of regulatory framework.
15. Government should be selfless and honest in carrying out reforms, incorporate measurable performance indices and ensure that reforms are implemented in a way not to inflict pains or punishment on the people.
# DrZaki25, 903 Tafawa Balewa Way, Abuja
By Eigbefo Felix
His Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo, the Executive Governor of Edo State, has demonstrated that he is a blessing to the state through his policies, appointments, initiation of road construction across the three senatorial districts, and his deep love for the people of Edo State.
Governor Monday Okpebholo has begun fulfilling the five-point agenda he promised the good people of the state since his inauguration.
In the area of security, he has shown total commitment. He assured the people of Edo State that he would ensure their safety, and true to his word, the state remains peaceful, which has brought joy to its residents. He has provided the necessary support to security personnel.
The governor increased the subvention for Ambrose Alli University (AAU) from ₦40 million to ₦500 million. He also promised to address the issues facing AAU medical students. Additionally, he has started renovating primary and secondary schools across the state, underscoring his understanding of the importance of education.
The agricultural sector has taken a positive turn as Governor Okpebholo has allocated ₦70 billion to the sector. Recognizing agriculture’s importance to both the state and the nation, he is positioning Edo State to become the food basket of the nation with his investments in the sector.
During the electioneering period, Senator Okpebholo promised to create 5,000 jobs within his first 100 days in office. He has already begun the process, and soon, the people of Edo State will benefit from these employment opportunities. Unlike in the past, he will not rely on MOUs before making appointments. Furthermore, he has started appointing Edo State indigenes, rather than outsiders, to various positions.
Governor Okpebholo has commenced road projects across the state, from Edo South to Edo Central and Edo North. He believes that when roads are motorable, the prices of goods in the market will automatically reduce.
He has also begun investing in the health sector, understanding its critical importance to the people of Edo State.
Governor Monday Okpebholo’s initiatives and actions affirm his dedication to transforming Edo State for the better.
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