The Edo State governorship election is taking place today. It is a critical election that has placed big responsibilities on the shoulders of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the police – the main institutions that can make or mar it.
Prior to election, there had been political utterances that suggested that the election would not be free and fair. Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki did not sign the peace accord on the basis of what he called “bias” by the Nigeria police.
“You are very conversant with the politics of Edo State. You were here in 2020 and we had a very heated election. You know this is an off-cycle election and there is a lot of attention,”Mr Obaseki told former Head of State and Chairman of the National Peace Committee, General Abdulsalami Abubakar.
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“Unlike 2020, I am very worried with the developments in the state today. The party met yesterday and we might not likely sign this agreement. This is the first time we are witnessing that the person who is supposed to keep and enforce the peace accord is now an active participant in creating a destructive environment.
“The opposition party in the state, the APC, has always argued that they may not be as popular and didn’t win in the last election, but promised to use federal might to determine the outcome of the election. We thought it’s just rhetoric, but in the last four weeks, we’ve had a situation where from the office of the IGP, armed gang policemen have come into Edo State to invade, arrest and take away PDP members.
“As we speak, there are 10 PDP members arrested and detained in Abuja without trial. Two days ago, they came to pick up a local government chairman.”
He said more than 10 PDP members had been arrested by the police led by Inspector-General Kayode Egbetokun and taken to Abuja.
However, Mr Obaseki himself have made inflammatory comments that could influence the election. He had said one week to the election that the exercise would be “a do or die affair.”
Speaking at a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) rally held at Garrick Playground, Ekenwan Campus of the University of Benin, on September 15, Governor Obaseki said: “This election is do or die. If they do, we will die.”
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Mr Obaseki has tried to justify the comment, but he ended up repeating himself.
But he is not the only person to utter comments capable of creating a tense atmosphere in Edo State election.
In early September, Governor Obaseki’s wife, Betsy, had presented the wife of the PDP candidate, Ms Ifeyinwa Ighodalo, to the electorate at the Ubiaja Township Stadium in Esan South-East Local Government Area.
She had said, “Let us vote for the best candidate in this coming election, and I want to introduce the wife. Incidentally, among all the candidates, only one has a wife, and it’s our own party’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo. Only he has a wife. This is the wife, Mrs. Ifeyinwa Ighodalo,” Ms Obaseki had said.
This is, however, provocative.
Reacting to Ms Obaseki’s remarks, former Governor of Edo State, Mr Adams Oshiomole, said Mr Obaseki and his wife had no children.
“I was shocked yesterday to see Mrs. Obaseki, the first lady, saying that our candidate has no wife. I’m sorry that she has to say that, because here is a woman who has no child. Between him and Obaseki, they have no child, they are childless,” Oshiomhole said.
“They are not even ready to adopt. I mean, I don’t blame anybody who should not have a child. But people who have love for children, they go to motherless homes and adopt children.”
This, to many observers, is ridiculous, considering that it is no fault of any couple not to have children. Many have likened Mr Oshiomole’s comments to his infamous “go and die” statement in 2013, where he told a widow to die for hawking during a sanitation in Edo State.
How far can a politician go?
There have also been careless comments by politicians who predicted violence if their candidate failed to win the Edo State election.
However, the onus to conduct a free, fair and credible election is on INEC and police, who have a right to wield big sticks on the politicians violating the Electoral Act or simple rules of decency.
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As Edo State electorate vote and await elections results, it behoves on INEC to do its job. It must ensure that Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines work and that election results are uploaded into the iREV as promised by its Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Anugbum Onuoha. The incident of 2023 presidential election where results were not uploaded into the iREV due to “technical issues” must not repeat. The choice of the people must be allowed to prevail.
The police must not aid politicians who wish to rig the Edo State election results. Mr IGP Egbetokun and his deputy who is in charge of the Edo State election, Mr Frank Mbah, must ensure that the police do not compromise security during the election. A word is enough for the wise.
