The All Progressives Congress have long been noted as a political party whose only motivation is to grab power for the sake of power. They showed it in 2014/2015 when they gave their ticket to a morose buhari because of his popularity in the core North of Nigeria with a constant twelve million votes in order to grab power. In addition to fielding Buhari as their presidential candidate, they did everything possible to demonize Goodluck Jonathan while presenting Buhari as the Messiah Nigeria had been waiting for to take away their sufferings by ending corruption and instituting a frugal government.
Buhari had no message beyond fighting corruption and enforcing discipline, yet many Nigerians were carried away and thought he was ” an elegant cow coming from Uzebu ” ( please ask a Benin person to interpret this for you).
All the things the APC criticised Jonathan for during that campaign window, they did worse. They changed nothing and added to the woes of Nigerians. For instance, Buhari said he would sell off the planes in the Presidential fleet or convert them to start a national commercial carrier if elected as President. Buhari did not only fail to do this, he acquired more jets. The only attempt at starting a national carrier was the grotesque launching of Nigerian Air artistic design on paper with millions of Dollars.
Buhari’s government was a cesspool of corruption, inefficiency, nepotism and total abdication of governance.
Buhari’s successor, his fellow APC leader and founder, Bola Tinubu, continued from where Buhari stopped and took it further in profligacy, larceny, nepotism and grand insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians. I will dwell on Tinubu another day, but before anyone calls me names, it is trite to offer this reminder that I supported Tinubu because he was the candidate of my then political party and the fact that I thought he would replicate some of his dynamisms as Lagos State Governor as President of Nigeria. My choice at the time was actually Prof. Yomi Osinbajo, until Tinubu emerged as candidate.
The APC have clearly shown that it is a party that over promises and under deliver because of their desperation for power. They showed this with Buhari and Tinubu and are now showing it with Okpebholo in Edo state.
From 2020 till the last Governorship election in Edo state, Edo APC leaders and their social media messengers have been very huge on allowing Edo based Edo people to be the fulcrum of Edo Government and criticised Godwin Obaseki for importing Edo people from outside the state to run his government. With what I have seen of the appointments Monday Okpebholo has made so far, he is proving to be a lot worse than Godwin Obaseki in this area. His government so far is 95% diasporan, if you like, none Edo based.
I deliberately stayed off Monday Okpebholo’s appointments so far so as to wait till most of the appointments are made to give him the benefit of doubts, but I would like to make preliminary observation on his appointments so far, especially the appointment of the Managing Director of Edo Broadcasting Service.
I can not fault Sulaiman Aledeh’s appointment in anyway. He’s a friend ( by friend, I mean he’s not a foe, and I personally know him and he knows me) , a fellow alumnus of Western Boys’ High School, Benin City ( some years my senior) and a fellow Ikpoba Hill boy.
As much as I wish him well, APC social media urchins saying he’s home grown is overreaching. He’s a Lagos boy, a diasporan that Edo APC so much loathed for over five years now.
The way Edo APC disparaged Obaseki, Asue Ighodalo and some other personalities in Obaseki government because they didn’t always live and work in Edo state or that they didn’t school in Edo state or that they didn’t grow up in Edo state, one would think that their appointments would be dominated by Edo based personalities.
Only one Edo based person has been appointed by Okpebholo so far, after almost 15 appointments. His name is Mr. Emmanuel Okoebor, who was as recently as January this year the Regional Manager of UBA, Edo/Delta region. If Mallam Gani Audu can be counted as Edo based, then he would be the other one. If anyone contests this conclusion, feel free to controvert me with facts and I will tell you where they all live and work. The only person I didn’t know until now was the newly appointed SSG.
During this last campaign, I warned Edo people not to listen to the jejune arguments of homeboy and foreign based orchestrated by APC leaders, that they were mere demagogues and filibuster to hoodwink Edo people. Now they have clearly vindicated me so early in their adhoc government.
May Edo win!
Daniel A. Noah Osa-Ogbegie, Esq. writes from Etete New Layout, Benin City.