A few days to the national assembly primaries of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomole is facing accusations of promoting the interests of politicians who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to his party, ACN....Photo Right :former PDP Domingo
Mr Oshiomole assumed office in November 2008 following the declaration by the court of appeal that he, and not the then sitting PDP governor, Oserheimen Osunbor, won the 2007 gubernatorial elections in Edo State. But a few months to the 2011 general elections, many stalwarts of the PDP including a senator, and members of the House of Representatives have decamped to the ACN in the state; a situation which is now causing ripples within the party..
“We don’t know why the comrade governor is doing this. People who rigged against him and the ACN in 2007, people who spent their money to ensure that he never got to office, are the same people he is now supporting against those of us who stood by him and have always been with the party,” a senior official of the ACN in Edo State, told NEXT.
One of the areas of tension is the candidacy of the party for Edo north senatorial district. At a meeting held Tuesday evening at the Benin GRA residence of the governor, elders and leaders of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) from Akoko Edo local government area of Edo State were informed by Mr Oshiomhole, after about five hours of deliberation, that he was in support of one of the senatorial candidates from the local government, and he wanted the party leaders to follow suit. The trouble is that the man is a recent decampee from the PDP.
“The governor told us that he wanted us to support Deacon Domingo [Obeinde]. They are all our sons, but his support for Domingo really surprised and upset us,” a participant at the meeting told NEXT.
Prior to the meeting, there were three aspirants for posts under the platform of the ACN. The three aspirants, who all attended the meeting, are Peter Akpatason, former president of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG); Tunde Lakoju, the present commissioner for agriculture and natural resources and AC senatorial candidate in 2007; and Domingo Obeinde, a former senatorial aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2007.
Though there are six local governments in the senatorial zone (Etsako east, Etsako central, Etsako west, Owan west, Owan east, and Akoko Edo), NEXT learnt that the ACN zoned the ticket to Akoko Edo because the local government had not produced a senator since 1999.
Other cases of support
Mr Obeinde’s endorsement by the governor is causing a stir within the CAN, as party members feel the governor is unduly favouring PDP decampees. This sort of support for PDP decampees is however not peculiar only to Mr Obeinde, who alongside several other PDP stalwarts recently decamped to the ACN.
When Edobor Uzamere, a senator elected on the platform of the PDP in 2007, decamped to the ACN in September 2010, he told his colleagues on the floor of the senate that the PDP ticket is equivalent to Zimbabwean dollars. Mr Edobor, who represents Edo South in the senate, is another decampee who allegedly enjoys the support of the governor. Supporters of his main opponent for the ACN ticket, Matthew Urokhigbe (a pharmacist), accuse the governor of abandoning loyal party members for decampees.
“The governor is trying to destroy this party by supporting these decampees. There is no guarantee that when they win, they will not decamp back to where they came from,” an ACN leader and supporter of Mr. Urokhigbe told NEXT.
Yet another decampee who reportedly enjoys Mr. Oshiomole’s support is Patrick Obahiagbon, a member of the House of Representatives who left the PDP for the ACN. Mr Obahiagbon, who represents Oredo federal constituency in the House, is mainly challenged for the ACN ticket by Rasak Bello-Osagie, a businessman.
Efforts to reach Mr Oshiomhole were unsuccessful as his principal private secretary, Olaitan Oyerinde did not answer calls placed to his phone or respond to a text message sent to the number.
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