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Asue Ighodalo: Favourite to succeed Gov. Obaseki
By OBINNA EZUGWU
It is already a crowded race for the Edo State government house, with over 60 aspirants battling to secure tickets of each of the three prominent political parties, namely the People’s Democratic Party (PDP); the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Labour Party (LP). But amid the bickering and manoeuvring that have so far characterised the contest, it is gradually shaping up to be one between Asue Ighodalo, lawyer, economist, boardroom guru, and the others.
Ighodalo, an aspirant under the PDP, is known to have the backing of the incumbent governor, Godwin Obaseki, and has emerged, thus far, as a clear frontrunner.
“He (Ighodalo) is the big deal; a competent and compassionate man,” said Ose Anenih @ose_anenih, a member of the ruling party in the state, and son of the late Chief Tony Anenih. “I’m glad he’s thrown his hat into the race to be our next governor.”
Anenih’s sentiments is shared by many in the Edo PDP. Already the most talked about aspirant within the X space, Ighodalo has the momentum, and it would appear, given emerging realities, that time is the biggest barrier between him and Edo government House.
On Friday, Ighodalo, who’d served as head of Governor Obaseki’s economic team, announced his resignation from his role as chairman of Nigerian Breweries PLC board, a self assured move that is in line with regulatory provisions. He is also said to have resigned from his role as chairman of Sterling Bank, as the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC), having fixed the governorship contest for September 12, 2024.
A founding partner of Banwo & Ighodalo, a prominent corporate & commercial law firm in Nigeria, who chairs a number of companies, and sits on the board of several others, Ighodalo comes qualified for the task of leading Edo, and looks set to continue the emerging tradition of Lagos based technocrats governing the state.
Ighodalo sits on the boards of Mainstreet Technologies Limited (owners company of MainOne Cable Limited), Cardinal Stone Partners, Okomu Oil Palm Plc, Christopher Kolade Foundation, Boff&Co, among others, and thus comes prepared. But that in itself has become a stumbling block. Although many agree he fits the bill, it will not be an easy race as many also see him as an outsider in a race that could be decided by who is on ground and who isn’t.
“Yes, Ighodalo has the backing of Obaseki, but I can tell you that he’s not on ground,” said a prominent member of the PDP, who didn’t want his name in print. “The deputy governor (Philip Shaibu) is on ground; he is a grassroots person, who understands the game, and Edo people have become tired of Lagos boys.”
It is clear that the traditional political class in Edo has grown increasingly weary of the influence of Lagos based technocrats – or generally the Edo diaspora – in the state politics. Obaseki, who had made a name in the finance world, having among others, founded Afrinvest West Africa Limited, an investment management holding company based in Lagos, was drafted into the political scene by Adams Oshiomhole, his predecessor, whose government he had served as head of economic team, and who later supported him to become governor in 2016.
At the time, many in the state had raised concerns about the prospect of Obaseki as governor, contending that he didn’t understand the terrain, and was basically a ‘foreigner.’ Their concerns were eventually justified. Obaseki, as governor, failed to govern the ‘usual way.’ Contracts were awarded to core professionals, most of whom reside in Lagos, as opposed to politicians getting contracts as reward for effort in election victory. This created a sort of resentment towards “Lagos Boys.”
He also failed to ‘carry party leaders along’, often a euphemism for sharing money, such that by the time he was due for another election in 2020, hell broke loose.
Oshiomhole, then national chairman of the APC, the country’s ruling party, on whose platform Obaseki became governor, along with other party leaders in the state, rose strongly against his second term bid, and ultimately ensured that he didn’t get second term ticket. But Obaseki switched to the PDP, and riding on the anti godfather sentiments as encapsulated in the ‘Edo No Be Lagos’ mantra, defeated APC’s eventual candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu to retain his seat.
In the earlier election of 2016, Ize-Iyamu, who ran under the PDP platform, was widely believed to have won the election, but lost to the APC machinery. The roles were then reversed in 2020, but the results remained the same.
In the APC camp, his victory meant losing the state, and an inevitable long wait for another election in four years time. But the PDP leadership will also soon realise that with Obaseki, it is not politics as usual, and it didn’t take long for a number of the party’s prominent figures, notably, Chief Dan Orbih, national vice-chairman of the party, to fall out with him. Orbih and Obaseki battled for the leadership of the party from 2021 until the governor ultimately prevailed at the Supreme Court in February 2023.
The governor’s decision to settle for another technocrat in Ighodalo, has thus rattled a section of the political establishment in the state, in both the PDP and the APC camp, both of which are bracing for an all out battle to ensure that power returns to one of them.
“As it stands, Obaseki will not be able to chose his successor,” another party leader in the deputy governor’s camp, who also craved anonymity said. “Everyone is against him. He cannot defeat all the bigwigs in Edo politics.”
Ighodalo has already come under pressure, accused by his opponents of not being a proper Edo boy, an allegation further reinforced by his inability to speak Esan, his native language. But he’s fighting back.
A few days ago, he travelled to his ancestral home in Ewohimi, Esan Southeast Local Government Area in Edo Central Senatorial District, where he firmly asserted his ‘son of the soil’ credential, dismissing his critics as those, who spend time at beer parlour or ‘pepper soup joints.’
“I do things in Esanland, but that we’re not noisy in my family, doesn’t mean we’re not on ground. I’m a true Esan boy; I’m a true Edo boy and a true Nigerian; that’s what I am,” he declared.
“Since 2008, I’ve been in the economic team of the state; from the time of Governor Adams Oshiomhole. Since Obaseki came in, I’ve been chairman of economic team. I’ve been coming into the state to support and advise the government of Edo State since 2008.
“People can say what they like, but the fact that you are not noisy and you’re not jumping from one ‘mama put’ to the other doesn’t mean that you are not a true Edo boy. And this issue about who is a true son of the soil is in the heart. There are many of our brethren in the diaspora, who are more Edo than the people here. It’s about what you do for the people, not how many pepper soup joints you have been to.
“Those of us in the diaspora in Nigeria, those abroad , all the best hands must come to develop Edo State. Some people cannot sit at mama put and say the rest of us cannot develop our state, it’s not done.
“So, all of us must come together to develop Edo State, both the people in Canada and the people in mama put.”
Zoning
The argument about Ighodalo not being ‘proper’ son of the soil will certainly be pushed more intensely by the traditional political class, who want a departure from the dominance of “Lagos boys,” but he has a few key factors working in his favour, prominent among which is the question of zoning.
In line with the unwritten, but mostly observed arrangement of sharing power among three senatorial zones in a state, it is the turn of Edo Central, the Esan clan to produce the next governor of the state, and many fair-minded people have bought into the idea.
Although the APC has since thrown its ticket open to all aspirants, while the likes of the deputy governor, Shaibu, who is from Edo North are fighting for the PDP ticket, even as Olumide Akpata, former president of the Nigeria Bar Association, who is from Benin in Edo South, has declared interest under the Labour Party, the prevailing sentiments favour power shift to the central.
The return of democracy in 1999 saw the emergence of Lucky Igbenedion, a Benin man from Edo South as governor. He handed over to Oserheimen Osunbor, an Esan from Edo Central in 2007, but Osunbor’s election was overturned by the court in 2008, paving the way for Oshiomhole, from Auchi in Edo North to become governor.
Oshiomhole, upon the completion of his tenure in 2016, handed power to Obaseki, who is Benin from Edo South. With his second term coming to an end in 2024, therefore, he is expected to hand power to Edo Central, and it’s, perhaps, with this in mind that he is widely believed to be backing Ighodalo.
But even within Esan land, many have indicated interest in the race, including Osunbor, who is now a member of the APC, in what some fear could serve to divide Esan votes and pave the way for a strong candidate from another zone to emerge.
Of the state’s three senatorial zones, Edo South, the Benin clan, has an overwhelming majority, constituting an estimated 60 percent of the state’s population. They are followed by the Esan in Edo Central, who make up about 15 percent of the population, while Edo North, where the deputy governor comes from, accounts for another 25 percent.
Thus, Edo South holds much of the aces, which also means that a candidate the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, backs, will stand a good chance.
A Crowded Race
There are already 68 aspirants contesting for PDP, APC and LP tickets, with the PDP accounting for 11, the LP 28, and the APC 29, among whom are old guards and green horns.
The state APC chairman, Col. David Imuse (retd) has thrown his hat in the ring with serving senators and members of the House of Representatives also joining. Kassim Afegbua, spokesman to General Ibrahim Babangida (retd) and former Commissioner for Information, Pastor Ize-Iyamu, who was the APC candidate in 2020 are also said to be in the race.
Also contesting for the APC ticket too is Gen. Charles Airhiavbere (retd), a former Accountant General of the Nigeria Army and Director of Finance administration of NDDC.
On the LP camp, the leading contenders are the seasoned campaigner, Kenneth Imasuagbon; Olumide Akpata, and first member House of Representatives, Dorry Okogie.
In the PDP, the deputy governor, Shaibu, who is at loggerheads with Obaseki, declared his intention last week Monday, noting that he had been in politics for 30 years and cannot be intimidated by anyone.
