Shaibu, Gani, Continuation of Etsako Extraction As Deputy Governor

By Dada Ayokhai 

The duo of  Governor Godwin Obaseki of the PDP and Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu of the APC recently settled for running mates from the Edo North district  of  the state.

The choice of picking a running mates from Edo North extraction may have been largely influenced by population considerations and the prospect of harvesting huge votes from the axis . 

Edo state is made up of  three senatorial districts namely  Edo South, known in local parlance as the Binis, is reputed with possessing the highest number of registered eligible voters, followed by Edo North, Afenmai, while Edo Central, Esan,makes up the tripod from the rear.

Edo North district comprises of  Etsako, Owan and Akoko_ Edo. These three ethnic groupings constitute the tripod known in political circle as Edo North, although there is a sprinkling of minority tribes whose number is too insignificant.

With it's size and population, Etsako has continued to steal the show in the district. Also with three of the six LGA's in its kitty, the odds have favoured Etsako to established a political  dominance.

Owan has two LGA's: Owan East and West, while Akoko Edo has a single LGA. With its natural advantage, Etsako finds itself sitting pretty comfortable on the political ladder of the district.

Since the return of democracy in 1999, Etsako axis has  the singular privilege of producing more deputy governors of Edo State than the other two.

At its creation in 1991, the then two dominant political parties in Edo State each zoned the slot of deputy governor to Edo North.

 

Whilst  the SDP candidate, Chief John Odigie Oyegun picked Rev Peter Obada, from Owan West as his running mate, Chief Lucky Nosakhare Igbinedion of the NRC paired with Senator Yisa Braimoh, from Owan East. This is, indeed, the last time that an Owan person has appeared on the ballot box as running mate.

In 1999, the PDP and the ANPP were the two dominant political parties. Strangely, they did not deviate substantially from the already established NRC/SDP convention. Rather, it was simply a rehash of the power sharing arrangement. Since the governorship slot had already been farmed out to Edo South, largely populated by the Binis, it was already a known fact that the slot of deputy governor will go to Edo North due to obvious reasons of population advantage.

And, so, the duo of Chiefs Mike Oghiadomhe and Dan Orbih, both Etsako indigenes,; the former from Fugar and the latter from ogbona, both of Aviahwu clan ,Etsako central local government, emerged to pair Chief's Lucky Igbinedion of the PDP and Lucky Imasuen of the ANPP respectively. 

As fate would have it, the tag team of Igbinedion and Oghiadomhe won the election and that was how Chief Mike Oghiadomhe made history by  becoming the first Etsako man to serve as deputy governor of the state.

In 2003, when Chief Lucky Igbinedion and his deputy, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe sought  re-election, they came up against Senator Rowland Owie and his running mate, Mr Tunde Lakoju, from Akoko _Edo, of the ANPP which had by then changed its name to the All  Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP.

Again, that was the first time till date that the name of an Akoko Edo indigene would appear on the ballot paper as running mate.

Chief Igbinedion and his deputy coasted to victory in that election and it became a watershed in history for Chief Oghiadomhe in the sense that it marked the first time an Etsako indigene would serve two terms as deputy governor.

In 2007, the APP governorship candidate, Mr Aregbesola Emmanuel chose a trained civil engineer from Auchi, Engr Saliu Ahmed, who later became the Managing Director of Benin/Owena River Basin Authority. as his running mate. Unfortunately, this union did not produce any tangible electoral result. 

In 2016, it was the turn of  Hon Philip Shuaibu, a former students Union activist who was already serving a fresh term in the federal House of Representatives. The Jattu born two term lawmaker in the Edo state House of Assembly was nominated as running mate to  Mr Godwin Obaseki on the APC platform.

Now in 2020, the same scenario is playing out. The APC and the PDP picked their deputy governorship candidates from the same location locality, in this case,  Etsako West LGA.  The PDP running mate, Hon Philip Shuaibu, hails from Jattu in Etsako West likewise Hon Gani Audu of the APC who hails from Agbede. Both were also former lawmakers except that Hon Audu had previously served as  chairman Etsako West local government before going to the Assembly.

Looking at statistics which, in all fairness tells a lot more than words, it's obvious that Etsako has monopolised the power sharing arrangement in Edo North district. That axis has the singular privilege of having produced deputy governors of the state for 12 uninterrupted years. Besides, they have appeared on the ballot papers as running mates on three different occasions namely: Chief Mike Oghiadomhe, Engr Saliu Ahmed and Hon Philip Shuaibu.  Owan, on the other hand, only made a cameo appearance once on the NRC platform and even that brief sojourn did not last beyond a year plus. 

For Akoko Edo, it's another pathetic outing for an axis that is completely marginalised in the power scheming in the district. Her sole  appearance on the ballot paper as running mate shows the extent to which the power sharing arrangement in the district has been skewed in favour of Etsako and the domino effect of such.

All in all, there may be the need to revisit the present status quo and put in place one that takes cognisance of equity and  prevalent cleavages, the road to any amendment may, however, have to wait until the 2020 Edo guber poll is decided.

DADA AYOKHAI

Edo State based Media Consultant.