As electorates in Edo State gear up for the governorship election, the Edo Central Senatorial district has been touted as the key battle ground for the candidates and likely decider of the winner. Curiously, the two leading candidates are from the district, with the likelihood of a split vote that may favour the outsider, MICHAEL EGBEJULE reports.

As the countdown begins for the September 21 governorship election in Edo State, permutations are ongoing about the most qualified candidate between the two Esan sons of Edo Central Senatorial zone candidates participating in the exercise. They are Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Senator Monday Okpebholo of All Progressives Congress (APC).

Igbodalo is a renowned lawyer and boardroom guru, while Okpebhole is the current senator representing Edo Central Senatorial zone at the National Assembly. He is also the Senate Committee Chairman on Public Procurement.

The zoning of political power in the state has favoured Edo Central Senatorial zone to produce the next governor. It is the first time the area is coming to reckoning from the two leading political parties, to produce a governor.

Therefore, the fact that PDP is the party in power in the state with incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki solidly behind the zone, and APC in control at the national and its desire of returning the state to its fold using the election makes the contest interesting.

Last week, national chairman of APC, Umar Ganduje, enthused that the party would win the governorship election of the state to underscore its dominance in the South-South region.

He said: “I believe our campaign is in high spirits; we are getting ready for that election, and we believe we will be able to recover our state. This is because Edo was an APC state, but because of internal squabbles, we lost it to PDP. We are sure we will recover that state.”

Ganduje may not be far from the truth going by the fact that Obaseki had actually started with APC but decamped to PDP after falling out with his former political godfather, Adams Oshiomhole.

Being in opposition in the state, APC has continued to give PDP a run for its money. Apart from providing veritable opposition, it decided to pick its governorship candidate from the same Edo Central district, an indication that it would not compromise in anything other than victory for the party in the election.

One thing it did recently was to “snatch” the former Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu from PDP after he was impeached by the State House of Assembly and has ensured his recognition as “Deputy Governor” using the court.

But while many have regarded Edo Central Senatorial District the battle ground in the election, they have not written off the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Olumide Akpata (SAN). This is because, though he is from the same Edo South Senatorial district with the incumbent governor, Obaseki, he has remained a very strong contender and is said to have a very deep pocket.

Pundits predict that though he may be a victim of the zoning arrangement but that any slip or failure of Edo Central to maximise the opportunity and resolve who to vote for between Ighodalo and Okpebholo may be to the advantage of Akpata. He is said to have boosted his chances since the court resolved the issue arising from his choice of deputy governorship candidate, adding that he has leveraged the penetration of LP in the last presidential election to advance his course.

Meanwhile, even when the first ballot is yet to be cast in the election, emerging signals indicate that the pendulum may swing the way of Igbodalo at the end of the day. This is following perceptions from political pundits and different opinion polls that have been conducted in the past few weeks on the candidates and their chances.

Besides, the criticism trailing the inability of APC governorship candidate to engage with the media and Edo people generally on his programmes is affecting his chances in winning the election.  He has failed to appear on talk shows to sell himself to the electorates and allegedly refused to honour invitations for governorship debate by the various groups that have invited governorship candidates to discuss their manifesto in the state.

In one of his outings, specifically during an event organised by a section of the Christian community in the state, APC candidate was reported to have told his audience that he does not need a manifesto to do his job as a governor diligently.

Apparently responding to the backlash that followed that outing, the party was said to have formerly put together a manifesto tagged, “A new Edo is rising” for the state. That notwithstanding, some members of the party have come hard on the candidate insisting that they cannot find Okpebholo’s candidature strong enough to upturn the dominance of PDP in the election.

APC Integrity Group led by Emmanuel Odigie has taken it upon itself to advance this campaign about the alleged incompetence of the APC candidate and have used one of his numerous appearances on live television to urge him to withdraw from the race to save the name and integrity of the party.

However, a cleric and leader, Consensus Christian Leaders Forum, Archbishop Fred Aghedo, called for caution among Esan people of Edo Central Senatorial District, urging them to be wary of those who have labeled them witches and wizards. This is in veiled reference to the alleged derogatory words of a former governor of the state, who was said to have stated in a television talk show that Ighodalo is afraid of the witches and wizards in his ancestral native land.

Aghedo advised that APC candidate, who is already in the Senate, should remain there while urging him to join hands with Ighodalo to mount a governance saddle in the state and collaborate with him to develop Edo State and Esan land.

He said: “Our Esan people, it’s true that there are two Esan sons contesting the Edo State governorship election, one in PDP (Asuerimen Ighodalo) and the other one in APC (Monday Okpebholo) and there’s another contestant, Olumide Akpata of LP from Edo South Senatorial District. The two are our sons, we love them, but we must choose only one of them and not scatter our votes between the two of them so that Edo Central Senatorial District will not lose it to the man in LP.

“Let us not use sentiments of Okpebholo or Agbazilo or ‘this is my political party’ to do it, but let us choose the most competent among them. Let us not be insulting ourselves like one of the leaders of one of the political parties who has labeled Esan people witches and wizards because of this election. That’s an insult and a slap on the faces of Esan people, and we all know the party that individual belongs to. He has never ceased to show himself as an enemy of Esan people and see them as a people not fit to be governor of Edo State.

“We have to look at the two candidates carefully, their level of education, their ability to engage different people, diverse groups, their previous work experience, and their professional callings,” he added.

A former member of the Edo State House of Assembly, Sunday Ereghan, echoed similar sentiments when he urged his Esan people to choose Ighodalo because of the level of his education, experience, and professional expertise in law practice, noting that having someone who is not highly educated could be disastrous and cited the seizure of the Nigeria presidential jets by a Chinese company as an example of the consequences of having a person not highly educated as governor.

Another stakeholder, Zuberius Edeoghon relayed how Ighodalo’s late father, Jerimiah Ighodalo, stepped down his governorship aspiration for late Professor Ambrose Alli, who eventually won the election and developed Ekpoma and the entire Esan land. Edeoghon then urged Esan people to unite behind Ighodalo, the same way, and give him their votes

Besides, Esan elites across the country and in the Diaspora are sending messages to their people at home to give it to Ighodalo citing competency, experience and ability to articulate his programme of action effectively and communicate the same to the people.

APC chieftain, John Mayaki, has also joined in the campaign for the enthronement of competence in the governance of Edo State. Mayaki who was critical of the Obaseki-led PDP government over irreconcilable differences with the governor in the early days of his administration has not hidden his disdain for the choice of APC governorship candidate. He accused APC leaders of deliberately putting forward a candidate whom he alleged is incompetent.

Two different opinion polls have predicted victory for the PDP candidate. The EBDA poll edited by Business Day Newspaper put Ighodalo ahead of others at 68 per cent with Okpebholo of APC trailing with 18 per cent and Akpata is at the bottom with 14 per cent.

The Africa Polls Institute (API) put Ighodalo ahead with 43 per cent, Okpebholo at 20 per cent while 28 per cent are undecided. Pundits believe that the 28 per cent undecided voters from the poll are capable of swinging the result of the election to either of the candidates.