Obaseki : My congratulations but…

By Joseph Edgar… I have been waiting for this verdict before I put pen to paper. I must confess though that I have not really shown too much interest in this event beyond the occasional debates I find myself drawn into and Edo politics gets mentioned. But as the postponement occurred, I decided to take another cursory look at the politics of this backwater.

I still do not have details and as such cannot speak intelligently on the issues surrounding this victory but even at that, from my sketchy knowledge I can still quickly draw some allusions as to the way things will go in another ninety days.

The PDP will scream foul, they will go to court and follow it up to the Supreme Court giving the elected Governor no breather to settle down and build a structure. He will be sleeping with one eye closed as enemies both within and outside of his party will do all they can to unsettle him.

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As a technocrat with no real political base, he will be a stooge of errant godfathers including the incumbent governor who will see this victory as a personal victory. Obaseki remains a little bit lucky for he will not really have to contend with the overbearing influence of Tinubu and Oyegun who I hear lost the election in his ward and who is in a fratricidal battle with Tinubu. Those two will busy themselves trying to ‘kill’ themselves, ignoring the little boy and allowing Oshomiole play god with unfettered control.

He will rely heavily on Oshiomole in building a cabinet, so basically the cabinet will not reflect his cosmopolitan outlook but will mirror the narrow and parochial outlook of his pay lords who gave their blood for this victory. Obaseki himself, to my mind, does not come across as one who has the strength of character or mental agility to stand up for himself, so what we will be seeing here is a possible Oshiomole third term, with all its wahala.

But if you ask me rig or no rig, Oshiomole tried not to be humiliated with an Obaseki defeat. It would have been disastrous and would have sounded the end of his political career for he would not have any platform to spring from. So this victory is really his and not Obaseki. So, he should savor it.

Let me hold my peace for now and keep watching as events unfold.

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