Edo Election: Will Obaseki Remain In PDP?
The just concluded Edo governorship election defied several permutation and expectations of violence and Federal highhandedness to become one of the most credible, free, fair and violence free election Nigeria has ever had.
So many people have lent their voice on what they think must have made this possible, with some attributing it majorly to US visa ban and UK/EU threat of Visa ban and asset seizure.
Now, while not ruling out the role of the international community in making the election peaceful and credible, there’s need to look at some local factors and political calculations that may have influenced the trajectory of the election.
First, the gang-up of some progressive governors against rediculing of sitting governors by powerful forces within the party. After it happened to Ambode, Oshiomole wanted to repeat it with Obaseki which prompted the protest of some of the APC governors who finally succeeded in booting out Oshiomole from the party Chairmanship. There’s nogainsaying that some of these governors were still sympathetic to Obaseki’s plight.
Second, with the tussle for 2023 already reaching a crescendo within the ruling party, APC has been dangerously divided into two, if not more, camps. The Tinubu camp and the Amaechi camp. Obaseki stood against the Tunubu camp which made him draw bulk of his support from the Amaechi camp even though he was in an opposition party. The idea of the Amaechi camp is to whittle down Tinubu’s influence before the 2023 elections so as to boost their own chances.
Now, with both camps having their degree of relationship with the president, it’s possible that it is the reason the Federal Govt chose to play neutral and let the people of Edo decide the fate of the two camps.
The big question however is, to what end? If politics is a game of interest like it’s been severally defined, one will therefore not be wrong to think that there must be something in it for the Camp of APC that supported Obaseki. And if we recall, even after his defection from APC to PDP, Obaseki once released a video of him on a video call with the president. Doesnt all these things beg some questions?
So, considering that Obaseki seems to have left APC but those in APC didn’t leave him, his touted cordial relationship with the president, and how agencies of govt involved in the elections maintained neutrality which aided his reelection, do you see Obaseki remaining in the PDP that went all out for him or do you see him returning to APC?
AWOL is a Nairalander and a servant to reason.
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