ELEVEN months from now, the administration of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole will come to an end. By that time, a new helmsman will be in-charge of Edo State.

The question is, will the person be competent enough to build on the solid foundation already laid by the Comrade Governor? Many gubernatorial aspirants want to contest under the All Progressives Congress (APC), apparently to benefit from the goodwill of the Comrade Governor.

However, many of the aspirants and their supporters want the Comrade Governor to stay away from the choice of who succeeds him hence the wild rumour that Governor Oshiomhole has already anointed a particular governorship aspirant. Some party members were already threatening that any attempt by the governor to impose any candidate on the party would be resisted at all costs.

The governor, while addressing APC party stalwarts in Benin City on Thursday, January 14, made it abundantly clear that there was no anointed candidate. He explained that all aspirants will go through the party primary as contained in the party’s constitution.

The declaration has finally put to rest, the rumours and insinuations from some quarters. All the aspirants can now go about their political activities without the fear that their effort would end up in futility.

However, the question that borders true democrats are: does being a governor remove one’s constitutional rights to support any political aspirants? In this particular case, does being a governor stop the Comrade Governor from exercising his right as a citizen of Edo to vote for a particular aspirant of his choice?

Who is in a better position than the Comrade Governor to know who has the capacity and capability to lead Edo State to the next level? Should the Comrade Governor not have a say on who succeeds him? Should he be indifferent to the character of his successor? By the way, why are people running to APC to contest and benefit from the governor’s legacy but insist that he should be neutral?

One is amazed that those who are beating the drum of war also have their preferred aspirants they are supporting but at the same time do not want the governor to exercise his right. What an irony?

The time has come and now is the time for people to think beyond pecuniary interest and put the interest of Edo State first on choosing who takes over from the Comrade Governor come November 12. The right successor would only be a person who shares the same vision of commitment and selfless service to the people like the Comrade Governor. The question would be; how do you identify such a person in the present circumstances, when most of the political elite are self-centered and selfish? This is where the wisdom of the Comrade Governor becomes imperative; hence the need for him to play a major role in the identification crusade.

The reason for this suggestion is not farfetched; the Comrade Governor, for over seven years now has worked closely with all the political gladiators and should be in a better position to know who among them is development-driven; he should know those who are self-seeking; he should know those who are loyal but have no capacity to deliver services; he should know those who can separate politics from performance.

Flowing from the above, the governor should not shy away from having serious input as to who succeeds him come November. The interest and continuing development of Edo State is far above personal consideration.

The only way to keep and improve on the momentum is to have a man who is selfless, genuinely interested in passionately driving development of Edo State.

Adams Oshiomhole, for the past seven years, set a standard that whoever is coming after him, cannot afford to go below. Veteran journalist Alhaji Usman Abuda puts it this way: “A lot of Nigerians do not know the meaning of godfather; it does not mean you impose somebody but mentoring someone to believing your idea and passion about some particular issues and you identify someone who can carry-on those ideas for you.

“And so, godfatherism should not threaten anybody. It is a concept, because the man who sits there as governor needs a man who can perform when he vacates his seat”.
• Mayaki writes from Benin City.