Edo State Governorship Election: The Best Rigger Won.

       


Obaseki                       Ize-Iyamu




       When I heard news that the Edo state governorship election was to be postponed by two weeks siting security challenges, I thought it would be the fairest election ever in the history of Nigeria. But September 28th election did not come any close to free and fair; it went on to become the crudest election the state has experienced in a long time. The fact is that, INEC failed, the two major political parties failed and even we - the voters - failed also.
        Nigeria is obviously practicing two party system like the United States. Although, this system has its own advantages, most times it presents you with a tough choice to choose between two devils. In the 2015 general elections, we were given two devils to choose from: while Jonathan's government failed due to stinky corrupt practices adopted, Buhari's dotage and lack of sound education prevailed. So we chose the later because the former was the worse.

       The same scenario came to play in Edo state in 2016. The two party system gave us Obaseki (APC) and Ize-Iyamu (PDP). From his outrageous campaign promises (for instance providing 200000 jobs), Obaseki was grossly incompetent and would achieve little as governor: it was very obvious, he was desperate for power, and together with his boss (Oshiomhole), they would do anything to attain thier goal. But should we forgo Oshiomhole's milestone achievements in terms of infrastructural development, and pitch our tenth with Pastor Ize-Iyamu - a man who was a key part of Igbinedion's administration which drowned Edo economically for eight years? The Edo people were confused over the two choices. Hence they left the decision for fate.
        So during the election, the electorate, because of the above reason, did not really care about who would win. They were concerned about their pockets. They easily fell for the tiny bits they were gifted with, and then gladly sold their votes. They sold their PVC peacefully because they believed they had nothing to loose: whether or not they accept, an incompetent person must climb to power.
         For me, I didn't vote. There was no need queuing under the burning sun, to cast my votes for any incompetent candidate. I did not apply to serve as an electoral officer either, because I was told if you were given bribe, you were supposed to take. My friend was an electoral officer, and he told me how the PO in his unit ran away with a huge amount of money a party gave to them to share. He told me even the SPO and senior INEC officers were bribed. It should be noted that the two major parties were involved in all these. At the end of the day, the wealthiest party won because they had much money to throw around. The question now is, who will pay back this money?

         It is a pity that the free and fair election which gave Oshiomhole a second tenure, was destroyed under his watch. In those days, there was no voters' inducement. People voted their choice. It should be reccalled that the Local Government elections conducted in 2012 under Oshiomhole's watch went on to become a tyrannical rigging - a shameful one at that.

          I sense Edo is in trouble.