With the Edo State governorship election just three months away, tensions are escalating in the state as the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is reportedly cracking down on dissenting voices and opposition parties, particularly the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP).
On Friday, June 7th, Olumide Akpata, the former NBA chairman and gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party (LP), and his campaign organization condemned the alleged removal of his campaign billboards in strategic locations across Benin City, the state capital. They accused agents of the state government of being responsible for the act, which they deemed a blatant attempt to suppress their political message and undermine their campaign efforts
Worried by the trend, the LP governorship candidate at a conference on Friday, warned of looming chaos ahead of the September 21 gubernatorial election if Governor Godwin Obaseki fails to call the agents in his government destroying his billboards to order. Akpata said no reason had been given for the vicious action.
He lamented: “Over the past few days, we have witnessed a coordinated, premeditated, and insidious assault on our constitutionally guaranteed rights to free speech, political expression, and the fundamental tenets of democracy itself. Billboards that I, as a law-abiding citizen and a gubernatorial candidate, legally paid for and erected across the length and breadth of Benin City have come under attack from the LGAs, who are agents of the incumbent governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki.
“In Oredo Local Government Area, two of my billboards were viciously vandalised, defaced, and ultimately torn down, with explicit threats of more removals to come. The situation is equally dire and unacceptable in Ovia North East, where two more billboards bearing my visage and campaign messages were mindlessly destroyed by these merchants of antidemocratic forces. In Ikpoba Okha, my campaign team has received unambiguous threats that our billboards in that area will also be targeted for elimination.”
Similarly, on Saturday, 8th of June, the APC in a statement, equally whined about the PDP’s clampdown on opposition parties in the state which it said the spokesman for the Asue Ighodalo Campaign Organisation, Rev. Olu Martins, had admitted to in a video which went viral recently. The APC said the PDP threatened violence ahead of the election in the clip.
“Our party, the APC, draws the attention of the Department of State Security Service and the Inspector General of Police to the fact that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is threatening violence ahead of the September 21, 2024 Governorship elections. This is a clear indication of the desperation of the PDP, which is losing ground. In particular, we call on the security agencies to immediately arrest Rev. Olu Martins,” the statement partly read.
Responding to Mr. Olumide Akpata and his campaign organisation’s allegation, Chris Nehikhare, the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, said the claim that the state government was using its agents to destroy billboards of opposition parties was false. He urged the LP candidate to meet the billboards’ owners and regulatory bodies for possible unsettled bills.
Is the PDP losing ground?
After the controversial PDP governorship primary election which eventually produced Asue Ighodalo, a businessman in February, some members of the party who were not satisfied with the results decamped to the opposition parties. In April about eight former LG chairmen under the PDP and former member of the House of Representatives representing Oredo Federal Constituency, Hon. Omoregie Ogbeide Ihama decamped to the APC.
In May, Legacy Group, a formidable faction within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), boycotted a reconciliation meeting convened by the 11-member committee led by Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed.
The group, still nursing grievances over the outcome of the primary election, had earlier vowed to work against the party’s interests. Their decision to sideline the reconciliation meeting suggests a deepening rift within the party.
In response to the boycott, Obaseki reportedly issued a veiled threat towards members of the Legacy Group, a PDP faction led by Dan Orbih, the National Vice Chairman for South-South..
Many have also said the body language of the impeached former Edo Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu, suggests he will be working against the party in the September governorship election.
Shaibu fell out with Obaseki after he made his interest in succeeding him known. He contested the primary election against the wish of his principal but lost to Ighodalo, the latter’s favourite candidate. Some say his support for the candidate of the APC will be disastrous for the PDP.
Analysts
Political analysts argue that the recent defections from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to opposition parties are not sufficient to conclude that the ruling party is losing ground, as some may suggest.
They point out that opposition parties are also experiencing defections, emphasizing that this is a natural aspect of politics.
According to analysts, politicians often switch parties to pursue their interests, and this phenomenon is not unique to the PDP. They believe that the defections are a normal part of the political landscape, rather than a sign of the PDP’s decline.
