Don’t drag Wike into Edo poll mess

While the reasons the Edo State gubernatorial poll of September 10 was postponed a few hours to the exercise are still unfolding, it is laughable that the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of Adams Oshiomhole could blame some People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governors for the security report-induced botched poll instead of APC that deployed all tactics to shift the goal post when the game is about to start.
The Edo State government’s allegation that governors Nyesom Wike and Ifeanyi Okowa of Rivers and Delta states respectively sponsored militants to rig the postponed election in favour of the PDP is spurious, illogical and unconvincing. Interestingly, Wike and Okowa had denied the allegation.
The Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Austin Tam-George, who reacted to claims by the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, that the two governors donated N2 billion for the cause, insisted that Wike had never made such financial donation.
According to the commissioner, “Wike has no links with militants in the Niger Delta region and anywhere else in the country. He has only given moral support to the PDP candidate in Edo State to overcome the ineptitude and dysfunction the All Progressives Congress imposed on the people.”
Also, the Delta State Commissioner for Information, Patrick Ukah, has absolved Okowa of blame. Ukah said that Oshiomhole’s allegation is reckless and childish, stressing that the governor does not own or sponsor militants or thugs.
But Wike has also raised the alarm that INEC and security agencies may not be neutral in the governorship election. He equally condemned Oshiomhole’s allegation that he and Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State had mobilized militants to disrupt the polls. According to Wike, “What I told Edo people that has set Oshiomhole in panic mode was that the voters would not trust the neutrality of these important institutions. I still stand by my words that Edo people must be vigilant so that their votes would count.”
Wike further said, “If Oshiomhole has lost the confidence of his people, he should not blame me. He brought President Muhammadu Buhari and 10 APC governors to campaign in the state (Rivers) for his party. Yet, he is afraid at the visit of only two PDP governors to the state.”
The blame-game tactics of the APC is legendary. At the centre, the APC government has never stopped to blame former President Goodluck Jonathan for its lack-luctre performance so far. It is now shifting the blame to other past administrations for not leaving anything for it. Why the APC is jittery over the Edo governorship election is not surprising.
Nigerians saw it in the alanta and skelewu dance steps of Adams Oshiomhole when the party held the father and mother of all rallies in Benin City. The ominous signs the APC saw after the unimpressive rally perhaps made it to invent all manner of tales of fear and danger and arm-twist the government controlled security agents and the impotent Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to grudgingly postpone the poll in the evening of September 9.
The cost of the postponement runs into billions of naira in an economy that is in deep recession. There is no doubt that the APC, the beneficiary of the needless postponement is laughing. Nigerians saw such contentment on the face of Oshiomhole on national television while struggling to convince viewers why the poll was postponed.
Even if the APC has reciprocated what the PDP did last year in postponing the general poll, it is not right. Nigerians are worried that election is being postponed in a regime of the so-called progressives. It will be recalled that Oshiomhole and other APC big wigs now smiling and rationalizing this rape of democracy cried blue-murder last year, when the PDP did a similar thing.
If what happened to PDP because of that needless postponement should happen in Edo State on September 28, the loser knows himself. No doubt, the APC government has taken Nigerians for a ride. The APC government and their handlers have called Nigerians names for asking them to fulfill their electoral promises and for asking them to reflect federal character principle in their appointments.
They have called Nigerians all sorts of bad names for asking them to give them the change they promised. Instead of giving them life in abundance they promised, they are now gleefully telling them that the change will begin with Nigerians. They came with “change begins with me” after realizing that their plea for patience has fallen on deaf ears.
In case they don’t understand, the change must begin with them. The change should flow from Aso Rock to the helpless masses. The change should start with those in government.
For sake of emphasis, they promised Nigerians good roods, good economy, good education, good health, millions of jobs, rescue of Chibok girls, defeat of terrorism, commensurate exchange rate between the naira and other foreign currencies and uniting the country. Over one year, they have given Nigerians the opposite of what they promised. Now they want to confuse them with the “change begins with me” thesis.
Nigerians want the fulfillment of APC election promises and not mere slogans and empty rhetoric. Asking Nigerians to bring the change they promised them is an admission of failure. Nigerians should not be subjected to suffering because the APC government cannot deliver.
The APC should stop dragging Wike’s name into the APC-induced Edo botched poll. The APC should blame itself for what becomes of the poll. It should accept responsibility and stop blaming the victim, the Edo PDP and their moral supporters.
It would interest the Edo governor that Wike is busy rebuilding the state that the former APC regime left in tatters. He is busy reconstructing the roads they left unattended. Wike is fighting cultism and terrorism. He is even assisting the central government in its current war against militancy in the state and in the Niger Delta Region.
How can someone engaged in all these development projects be accused of sponsoring thugs to rig election in Edo State? The accusation does not make sense at all. But the truth is that Nigerians can no longer be deceived by the APC antics and propaganda. Nigerians, including the people of Edo State, have learnt their lessons the hard way.
They are eagerly waiting for 2019 to extract their pound of flesh from the Shylocks of our politics. The APC should blame itself for the shift in Edo poll. Dragging the name of the hard-working governor of Rivers State into the self-inflicted electoral fiasco is unnecessary.