Ighodalo has good relationship with Oba of Benin- Ex-Rep Arigbe-Osula
A former deputy minority leader of the House of Representatives (Oredo federal constituency) and an ex-governorship candidate, Hon Emmanuel Arigbe-Osula, speaks on the forthcoming governorship election in Edo and the need to elect the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, among other issues, in this interview with Olusegun Olanrewaju
The governorship election in Edo State is less than a week away. You have described it as crucial. How crucial?
This is the most important election I have known in my adult days because of the prevailing conditions across the nation. The poor performance of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the hardship of our people mean that we must get it right in Edo State. This Saturday’s election is no doubt a referendum on the nine-year APC government we have had. In the last nine years, we have known nothing but hardship. Nigerians have known nothing but hardship, insecurity, pain, anguish, and, in many ways, death. Edo people must come out in their millions and insist through their electoral franchise that this suffering must end. So, we cannot afford to reward an incompetent government with the governorship of our state. The actors who came to Benin for the grand finale of their campaign are the culprits of what we are experiencing. They came to Edo for the so-called grand finale of their campaign, danced, and rubbed it in our faces. The same people who are killing the country were in Edo State, asking us to let them kill Edo State for more years. Edo people must say no to APC.
Why are you saying we cannot have them?
Oh, yes, Edo people must go out en-masse to speak for Edo and every Nigerian. We must reject APC. We must express that at the poll. In this Saturday’s election, all Nigerians will speak through Edo people. We must reject APC and restore hope to the over 200,000 Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora. Nigerians are looking up to the Edo electorate for that important duty. We cannot afford to make any mistake in this election. Otherwise, Edo State will be taken 100 years back, never to recover, and will drive a sword through the hopes of the entire people of this nation. It is very disheartening to note that the APC, the ruling party in our country for the past nine years, is participating in this election.
Why did you say that?
The APC has forced on us, unrepentantly, great and grave hardship. And yet, they are campaigning on the same promises they made that got Nigeria and Nigerians into this horrible situation in the first place. So, Edo State must know that the country has a common enemy coming Saturday. We, Nigerians, have a common enemy to the progress of our country, and it is APC. We must take our anger against them and not vote for APC on Saturday. The only motivation that would make anybody want to vote for APC is if they are driven by corruption, not peace, not the development of our state, not the security we have long sought, not the provision of social infrastructures, which APC has shown they cannot provide for Nigeria and Nigerians. So, in Edo State, there is one party we cannot vote for on Saturday: the APC.
It’s not clear whether you have a candidate in the election, but it is obvious that you’re opposed to the APC…
Oh, indeed, I do have a candidate. I have taken time to review the background of the other two candidates (Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party and Asue Ighodalo of the PDP), and there’s no doubt Asue Ighodalo stands out as the person I will ask every progressive-minded Edo person to vote for. My good people of the state should vote for Asue Ighodalo if they want to move the state forward. I’ve also had time to meet with him to review his vision and discuss his plans for the state. They are very laudable, and he’s passionate about them and determined to move Edo State in the right direction. I’m saying this without any reservation: the right person for this job and the right person that Edo people should vote for is Asue Ighodalo. All sentiments aside, the only thing that should drive any of us to vote and to ask others to vote in this election is the development of our state—not stomach infrastructure that has made a lot of people congregate under the APC despite the devastation they have imposed on our people nationwide. Nigeria has never been this insecure. Nigerians have never been this hungry. It is even more disheartening to note that the actors in APC in this Edo governorship election are members of the National Assembly, which has been rated as the worst in the history of that institution. You have people who cannot even articulate a vision, nor can they promote one, contesting on the platform of the APC. We’ve seen this before with Buhari. We are experiencing this with Tinubu. We cannot afford it in Edo State. We can’t afford it.
You’re a Bini man. One grouse the people hold against Obaseki and for which they cannot wait to push him, his party, and his candidate is his ‘contempt’ for the Oba. They fear Asue may toe his line of disrespect. How do you react to that?
I’m not only a Benin man but also someone who sees himself as a custodian and an ambassador of our royal heritage, which the Oba represents. I would not support anyone with no respect for the Oba of Benin. However, I have met with Asue Ighodalo, and his respect for the Oba of Benin is not questioned. We shouldn’t forget that, unlike Obaseki, the respect for the palace and the Oba of Benin is in Asue’s DNA. This is not to insult Obaseki, but Asue is from Ewohimi, and the current lineage of the Oba that I know very well runs through Asue. Every true Ewohinmi child, whether born in Edo or anywhere in the world, has a commitment to and respect for the Oba of Benin in their DNA. Asue Ighodalo has spoken about this. No one in this election is closer to the root and lineage of the current Oba of Benin than Asue Ighodalo. I believe in what he says: his unwavering support, respect, and commitment to the palace. So, Asue Ighodalo is not one to have contempt for the palace of the Oba of Benin.
Let’s take this back a bit. When Binis complained about Obaseki and Adams Oshiomhole pushing for the governorship position, I remember hearing him say in person that nobody should bring up any primordial sentiments that are hundreds of years old. So, the contempt for the palace of Benin is more from Adams Oshiomhole than Obaseki. Asue Ighodalo is of a different background, speaking to sacrifice and hundreds of years of ancestral commitment to the palace. Only someone who does not know the lineage of the current Oba would think remotely that Asue Ighodalo should be held responsible for whatever they have against Governor Godwin Obaseki.
Another point against Asue Ighodalo is that he has been an economic adviser with the incumbent governor for the past seven years. If people believe that the Obaseki government has not lived up to expectations, it would also mean that Asue Ighodalo can’t exonerate himself from the perceived failure of Obaseki, his promoter-in-chief. Can he?
Governor Obaseki did not inherit a better government from Adams Oshiomhole. However, Asue Ighodalo is not Obaseki. But Edo State today is in a much better, healthier state than it was eight years ago. Every one of them complaining in APC today is upset because the treasury of Edo State has not been made an appendage of their accounts as it were under Oshiomhole. I have had cause to speak with these people personally, and they will tell you that it is not that Governor Obaseki hasn’t performed at all—it is because their homeboy politicians do not have access to the treasury. So, unless we have someone with the background of Asue, his professional antecedents, and his vision, we will not get Edo State out of the hole. At least you’ve heard from Asue. We’ve not heard from his opponent, Senator Monday Okpebholo. I want to warn the Edo people that we’ve been here before with Muhammadu Buhari. President Bola Tinubu never spoke to us directly, yet we expected him to do wonders. Okpebholo has not said anything about vision. The few times he tried to talk, he blabbed.
Some people will say, well, the party has spoken for him. He’s going to run on the party’s blueprint. Don’t you buy into this line of thought?
Unfortunately, that is even worse because, for the past nine years, everything APC has said to us has brought hardship to Nigeria and Nigerians. They said they would bring us security. Unfortunately, nobody in APC today can tell us that they have done a thing about the security and welfare of Nigerians. Why should we believe someone without a clue about doing it in Edo State? We shouldn’t discuss whether APC has demonstrated the capacity or the desire to do well for Nigerians. Nigerians have never been this poor. Nigerians have never suffered this much in every aspect of life. APC does not have any decent record to run on, so it would have been better if Monday Okpebholo had something to say instead of relying on APC. The actors in APC have failed us. The Senate President told the Nigerian youth, protesting the hardships they were facing, that they could protest while he was eating. Is that someone Edo people should use as a character witness for Monday Okpebholo? Or anyone from the party, including Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who belongs to that same institution that is now an appendage to Tinubu’s Aso Rock, that we should take them seriously? Is the Vice President second in command in this hardship they have brought upon Nigerians? APC must show the character, vision, or compassion to lighten the yoke on Nigerians. We shouldn’t even be advising Edo people on this. We feel it in all aspects of our lives. And there’s only one culprit, and that is the APC. And they should not be voted for.
