Yesterday, reports indicated that clergymen filled the Baptism Church auditorium in Benin City to endorse APC candidate Senator Monday Okpebholo and his running mate, Dennis Idahosa, for Governor and Deputy Governor, respectively.
The event was said to be attended by a host of political and religious leaders, including APC governorship candidate Senator Monday Okpebholo, Pastor and Prof. Mrs. Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the DG of the APC campaign Council, Senator Mathew Uroghide, Dr. Paddy Emmanuel, Blessing Agbomhere, former Edo State Assembly Speaker Hon. Festus Ebea, and the APC State Woman Leader Mrs. Betty Okuebor, among other chieftains of our party.
Our candidate, a recipient of an endorsement from a group of political and religious leaders, was full of smiles, especially considering it was an endorsement not earned – a phoney one where the candidate didn’t even make a statement during the event.
This event was meant to distract from the disappointments of previous weeks, in which his opponent gained a serious advantage in crucial regions by simply speaking and engaging with the people, while Okpebholo continues to hide behind a finger.
Unfortunately for him, the sleight of hand has backfired spectacularly. The news fell flat, and the stunt has produced more questions than answers. An endorsement, when sincere, is informed by true conviction; it is given only after the recipient has distinguished himself as the best in the race. In this case, it requires the bumbling Okpebholo to showcase his governance vision, usually documented in a manifesto that serves as the social contract binding him to the people.
He also has to prove that he possesses the understanding and competence to implement the manifesto, lest he hoodwink the people with an unfamiliar document designed by young PR lads in an Abuja office. Okpebholo has shown none of these. On the contrary, his incompetence and inability for high-minded thought unfold daily. Even at the event where he supposedly won the endorsement, he gave no speech; there was no engagement. Okpebholo maintained his characteristic silence.
He is the gaffe-prone candidate who doesn’t understand the difference between a museum and a zoo, the candidate without a manifesto, the candidate who callously hawked the remains of his cop for cheap political gain after dumping him in a bus to bleed out, despite emergency care being only a few meters away.
So what qualified Okpebholo for this endorsement? What did he tell the endorsers? How did they arrive at the decision that the man running a soulless and directionless campaign, this candidate who flees at the sight of cameras and independent journalists, is capable of steering the ship of Edo State for the next four years?
Perhaps the clergy were swayed by Okpebholo’s self-proclaimed miraculous rise—the much-vaunted ‘grace’ that elevated him from the streets to the Senate. But the men of God must hasten and heed the warning of Paul to Timothy so they are not deceived. There is no mystery behind Okpebholo’s dramatic rise. He is the product of political connivance, which seeks to grab and plunder. He is preferred because he comes with strings—a puppet that can be pulled this way and that. This is why the politicians insist on him. He is merely a gateway to lost privileges, which came at the expense of the people.
If Okpebholo has a burning desire to sell grace, he can start a ministry—that requires no certificate, and adult classes are not frowned upon. The grace of the call is, after all, free and open to all. But governance is a different matter. He who must earn the big chair must prove himself deserving. Asue Ighodalo is also a child of God; Okpebholo’s faith is nothing special. He must present results. Phony endorsements, no matter how loudly proclaimed, cannot replace character and competence, which he lacks.