PERSPECTIVES: Lessons From Just Concluded Edo Guber Polls – Emeka Monye

The Edo state governorship election, which was held on Saturday, September 21, in the 18 local councils of the state, has come and gone with the winner, Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressive Congress (APC), celebrating his victory while the losers still licking their wounds of defeat.

The election came with so much hypes, tension, with all the political dynamics trying to sway, manoeuvre each other with promises of improving the lives and lots of the electorate – the final decider

The candidates, particularly Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party, LP, both fought great and good fights in the race and build up to the election. Evident in this fight were the massive media and publicity advertisements ran by their campaign organizations on various new and traditional media and the mobilization of residents of Edo state.

While, it will not be out of place to commend the fight and courage put up by the candidate of the Labour Party, Olumide Akpata – considering the peculiar nature of our politics, there are lessons to be learnt from the September 21 guber polls in Edo state.

It is worthy to note that, politics is good and a form of personality, acceptability and popularity test, but election is, and should never be a do or die affair, even though the incumbent governor Godwin Obaseki made us believe it is, when he said so while campaigning in the build up to the polls.

Whether we like it or not, elections are just a climax of a process in the campaign circumstance, because in the end all actors and non actors will retire to their different homes to dance the joy of victory and perhaps mourn the death of defeat.

The Edo state guber election should teach us lessons about focusing on issue-based campaigns. Rather than use hunger as a subtle way of warming into the hearts of the electorate, candidates should deploy a better strategy to win the hearts of the people. The people are suffering, yes we know, but should hunger always be the best strategy to winning the hearts of the people? The answer lies to our individual consciences.

Certainly, the hunger currently ravaging the entire country cannot be solved by a single Nigerian and Nigerians know this. The task of nation and sub-national building of the country and state should never be left in the hands of the leaders alone, it is a collective responsibility.

The Edo election, like national polls, has proven to most political gladiators, analysts and observers that people no longer vote for parties. They already know that all of PDP, APC, NNPP, APGA, LP and other parties are fragments of each other as most of the political elites are the same who are always quick to switch camp whenever they want, a norm that has eaten deeply into our political lexicon and culture.

The Edo governorship poll has also exposed to us that, yes, things may be tough and the economy is not smiling with average citizens, the reality staring us in the face is that no political party is synonymous with hunger and bad economy. It is just a vehicle that conveys candidates to their election victory – seat of power. So, it will be an illusion to think that a political party is the cause of the situation. In fact, one can only say that countries who face economic challenges mainly go through such because of systemic failures.

Like the saying goes, you either hate the message or the messenger. It’s a matter of choice. The Edo election also has confirmed to the discerning minds that electorates are now wiser. They tend to vote for a preferred candidate than a political party. Perhaps, there are qualities they saw in the candidate of the All Progressive Congress, Monday Okpebholo, which they didn’t see in others.

Governor Godwin Obaseki also needs to be tutored in the school of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on how to be a good student of building a successor, bearing in mind the circumstances surrounding his choice of successor, Asue Ighodalo. He needs to learn from Tinubu on strategies tactics of imposing a chosen successor on the people.

Adams tried it, but he failed and some other former state governors who tried it, failed. In the build up to the election, Obaseki who rode to success on the support and goodwill of some people, betrayed many of them, even those who were strong loyalists and supporters were paid with bad and fake currencies. Politics of betrayal is worse than politics without ideas.

Politics is unpredictable, the people you think are for you, oftentimes are against you. In 2020 when Obaseki fell apart with his estranged godfather, Adams Oshiomhole, he boldly affirmed, telling Nigerians that Edo is not Lagos, hence, he is devoid of godfatherism. But in 2024, he dumped his deputy, Philip Shaibu, for a less fancied Asue Ighodalo. Today, like the saying goes, all is now history.

Nigerians are on a daily basis growing above emotional considerations. They now look deeply and critically before they leap. The Edo state guber election is a reflection of the feeling of most Nigerians, even though they may not be too sure whether a sure leap will land them on the right field or not. Such is the feelings among voters these days.

Like in other climes of the world. Politics is local and Nigeria and Edo state cannot be immune to the locality of the interplay of politicking. Voters will prefer an intellectually low person who interacts with them than a highly over intelligent candidate who keeps them at arms length. The APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo is deeply grass rooted. A man who understood the aspirations of the people of the state, more than other candidates. Perhaps this is one of his greatest points. It points to the very fact that in politics, the people at the grassroots matter, and they will continue to matter.

Like I said earlier, politics is local and not won on the strength of your popularity on new media. Most voters of the Edo election were online. They were actually large but sadly, most of them are never voters in Edo. Edo people spoke in reality. People who vote online are usually not resident, indigenes of citizens of that state or country. That is the reality.

Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party, LP, must be commended for his courage to run for the governorship for the first time, even though he came a distant third, securing less than three percent of the total votes cast. I think his loss shouldn’t be a laughing point, rather a lesson to learn from. The need for one to build structures right from the ward, council and state levels. Perhaps it will help prepare him for better opportunities next time. That is the reality, we learn every day.

As I wind up with this piece, I believe that elections can be free and fair in our country if the electoral umpire, the INEC wants it. And we must understand that while the supporters of various candidates are fighting and losing their sanity because of victory and defeat, the majority of actors are busy clicking the glasses in the victory celebration.

Finally, whether you are a PDP, APC, LP, NNPC, APGA, YPP, stay safe and healthy. Go take a cup of tea or coffee and not be too bother about the outcome. Your health is more important than any other consideration. Avoid too much thinking so that you don’t develop BP as you are not the one contesting or losing.

Emeka Monye is a journalist