Edo Guber: Wike Dares Ganduje, APC

The battle is now set in all fronts as the countdown to the September 19 governorship election in Edo state draws near


Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers State is known for his combatant nature. If he is a boxer, he should be fighting in the heavy weight class. He does not show pity on his opponents, neither does he handle them with kids gloves. As a politician, Governor Wike is like an emperor who dominates his environment and speaks his mind without bothering about whose ox is gored. He does not suffer fools gladly and returns every attack on his person or party with equal measures. When he was appointed by the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, to lead its campaign council in the governorship election schedule to take place in Edo state in September 19, many political stakeholders saw his appointment as a good choice for the opposition party.

In contrast, the All Progressives Congress APC, appointed his counterpart, the governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje to lead their campaign team, having earlier appointed the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, chairman of Edo State Primary Election Committee. The Committee named Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu as the Party’s candidate for the governorship election to face his main opponent in the 2016 election, Governor Godwin Obaseki who defected to the PDP after he was disqualified from contesting the election under the APC ticket. Obaseki is running with the PDP ticket. So, the Edo election has the trappings of a battle of titans. Ize Iyamu who polled 27,838 votes at the APC primary election to emerge winner, extolled the manner the primary election was conducted.

“I am naturally happy and humbled by the overwhelming support from the 18 LGA. I am so elated that there was no incident of violence and we were able to conduct the primary without violating the government Covid-19 regulation”, he said. Since after the completion of the primaries of both parties and emergence of their candidates, the political atmosphere in Edo State has been charged with each party supporters laying claim to over running the other party during the election. The APC campaign council led by its chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje dropped the first salvo, an indication that the electioneering campaign in Edo State will not be issue - driven, but one consigned to pettiness, mudslinging and personality attacks. Ganduje had after the inauguration of his campaign Council in Abuja by the Acting National Chairman of the party and governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni told reporters that his party would dismantle alleged PDP rigging machine before the governorship election and send Governor Wike, Chairman of Peoples’ Democratic Party Governorship Campaign Council in Edo State to the isolation centre.

Ganduje posited that Wike will remain in the isolation centre until APCs governorship candidate Pastor Ize Iyamu wins the election. “We know the opposition is planning to rig the election, we know their tactics, we know their methodology and we shall dismantle all their tactics to ensure we win the election, and we will send Governor Wike, Chairman of PDP Campaign Council to the isolation center, before he comes back, the election would have been over.”

The PDP hierarchy frowned at governor Ganduje’s assertion, describing it as a voice from the pit of hell. First to respond to Gov. Ganduje’s statement was Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP National Publicity Secretary who described Ganduje as a bare-faced treasury looter who has no moral rectitude to speak on corruption. The party chieftain further described as a huge irony that Ganduje, who was seen on video, allegedly stuffing his agbada (babanriga) with foreign currency, suspected to be gratification could accuse the PDP of corruption tendencies in Edo State governorship election.

“It is a paradox that an individual who has earned himself the disgraceful sobriquet “Gan-dollar” after allegedly being caught collecting gratification, would attempt to accuse others of having the intention of looting the treasury of a state. Responding to Ganduje’s threat to isolate him until the APC won the election in Edo, Governor Nyesom Wike said that Ganduje’s threat to isolate him until the election were over has exposed APC’s plots to take undue advantage of security agents during the election.

The PDP Edo State Governorship Campaign Council head said that it is the man who pocketed dollars that should be isolated, adding that the Kano State governor, Ganduje is not his match. “Between me and a man who was caught pocketing dollars, who deserves to be isolated in Edo State”? Governor Wike querried. It has become a common knowledge at city Centre in Benin where a huge billboard containing a video of the Kano State governor, Ganduje, is caught stuffing his babanriga with wads of dollar notes believed to be gratification, giving an indication that the campaign for who occupies the government house in Edo State is going to be far from being on issues of the moment, but may likely degenerate to personality issues and character assassination, that bother on moral issues.

In another development, Governor Wike is said to have distanced himself from comments making rounds in the social media credited to him in response to his Imo State counterpart, Senator Hope Uzodinma. It was reported that Governor Wike had mocked Governor Uzodinma following some gubernatorial comments credited to him (Uzodinma) on the Edo State governorship election, labelling the Imo State governor as an international fraudster.

He was alleged to have said that “when governors are talking, Hope Uzodinma should not talk because he is an internationally recognized fraudster who stole the mandate that does not belong to him through the help of his APC cabals, and tomorrow, if democratically elected governors are talking, someone who was declared governor through the backdoor will come out and talk too”. In a swift reaction, Paulinus Nsirim, Commissioner for Information and Communication in the state said that the statement ascribed to governor Wike is false and the handiwork of desperate people.

The statement said, “The attention of the Rivers State Government has been drawn to the news circulating in the social media that Governor Nyeson Wike of Rivers State denigrated his Imo State counterpart, Governor Hope Uzodinma. “The purveyors of the deliberate falsehood alleged that Governor Wike replied Governor Uzodinma over a recent statement where he allegedly boasted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will teach the Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP) and Governor Wike how to conduct a transparent election in the forthcoming Edo State gubernatorial election.

“The concocted story only existed in the imagination of the authors and so these was also no disparaging comment by Governor Wike. “Members of the public are hereby advised to discountenance all the information contained in the said publication as they did not emanate from governor Wike”, the statement continued. As the countdown to the Edo State Gubernatorial election on September 19 continues, we have not heard the last from the combatants and field commanders of the Campaign Councils of both parties.