13072019 - Buhari on new cabinet: I’ll never appoint ‘strangers’ again

EDO APC CRISIS: Battle shifts to Abuja
Continues from pg 12
“We welcome the decision of the House
of Representatives to investigate all the issues
surrounding the inauguration of the Edo State
House of Assembly. We are confident that they
would not find anything contrary to the
provisions of the Constitution.
“We humbly advise them to be guided and
not get involved in petty politics to fan the
ego of anybody,” he added.
Previous intervention
The House of Representatives o n March 9,
2016, passed a resolution to take over the
legislative functions of the Kogi State House
of Assembly, following the crisis that broke
out from the tussle for the speakership position
between two factions of the state assembly.
It directed the Inspector-General of Police
to seal up the House of Assembly until the
crisis was resolved, but the Kogi State
Government represented by the state’s
Attorney-General and the House of Assembly,
filed a suit on April 29, 2016 before the
Supreme Court, challenging the House of
Representatives’ resolution
Nevertheless, the Kogi state government
sued the National Assembly and the Attorney-
General of the Federation before the Supreme
Court, asking for an order nullifying the
House of Representatives’ resolution to take
over the legislative functions of the state’s
House of Assembly.
It is roughly positive that the Edo state
government may sue the National Assembly
if it takes over the functions of the state
assembly, but leaders are exploring other
peace options. It is mostly likely that with the
window of dialogue recently opened with the
Senate President, Governor Obaseki may see
eye to eye with his competitors on tactful
options out of the crisis.
Underground battle
A former Commissioner and Attorney
General of the state, Mr. Henry Idahagbon,
told Saturday Vanguard on phone: “It is true
that the House of Representatives has
constitutional power to take over the duties
of any state House of Assembly if there is
chaos, confusion and the House is unable to
discharge its functions.”
Idahagbon, a co-convener of Edo People’s
Movement, EPM, the arrowhead of the forces
massed against Obaseki in the state, said:
“The court cannot stop the House of
Representatives from taking over the
functions of a state House of Assembly
except the conditions precedent were not
met.”
The governor’s political camp already
knows that with Oshiomhole as national chair
of the party, it will be difficult for him to get a
second term ticket just like APC national
leader denied former governor of Lagos
state; Akinwunmi Ambode a second term
ticket.
Obaseki hopes to get APC
ticket. His political camp is
also working on a plan B in
the case of any eventuality.
We gathered that behind
the klieg light in the National
Assembly, both at the Senate
and House of
Representatives, there were
efforts to make Tuesday
motion not see the light of
day. Obaseki and his deputy,
Philip Shuaibu, were in
Abuja to press buttons
For the first time, Governor
Obaseki also agreed behind
closed doors with the Senate
President, Senator Ahmed
Lawan. He also met with the
Deputy Senate President,
Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.
He had avoided meeting
with the Senate leadership,
last week, but it was practical
this week that he had to.
A source said, “The Senate
President and Speaker of the
House of Representatives do
not have any special interest
in the matter, except getting
the right thing done, but the National
Assembly wants to offer Obaseki the
opportunity to either negotiate for peace or
indicate otherwise.”
“Governor Obaseki was critical of the
National Assembly intervention and
reportedly told Senator Omo-Agege that
Senators might not be welcomed if they come
to take over the functions of Edo assembly.
However, his host reminded him that National
Assembly members would not come to look
for him in Edo if they take over the assembly,
but he would be the person coming to meet
them in Abuja,” the source said.
Saturday Vanguard learned that the Senate
•Oshiomhole
Many governors have
ruled the state from
the time of Midwest to
Bendel and now Edo
state. Before the
advent of the current
governor, Mr. Godwin
Obaseki, Osadebey
from Asaba in presentday
Delta state was the
first Premier
actually stepped down hearing the motion on
Edo state, which the House of Representatives
took on Monday in order for the Senate
President to hear Obaseki and give him
opportunity to make improvements. The battle
to stop the motion in the House of
Representatives was unsuccessful.
Clearly, five House of Representatives
members from Edo state, Hon Ihonvbere,
Hon Akpatason, Hon Oghuma are with the
14 lawmakers, while Hon Dennis Idahosa and
another appear to have pitched tent with
Obaseki.
Prior to moving the motion in plenary, the
five House of Representatives members
disagreed on move to call for takeover of Edo
assembly and probe into the circumstances
that led to the June 17 inauguration.
Osadebey Avenue under
Oshiomhole, Obaseki
OSADEBEY Avenue named after the first
Premier of the defunct Midwest region, the
late Chief Dennis Osadebey is the seat of
power in Edo State. Some people call it
Government House, Benin City.
Many governors have ruled the state from
the time of Midwest to Bendel and now Edo
state. Before the advent of the current
governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, Osadebey
from Asaba in present-day Delta state was
the first Premier. It became known as
Bendel state until it was split into Edo and
Delta states with the late Dr Samuel
Ogbemuia, late Prof Ambrose Alli, former
national chairman of All Progressives
Congress, APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun,
Chief Lucky Igbinedion, Prof O. Osunbor and
Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as military and
civilian governors.
Oshiomhole, a former
President of Nigeria Labour
Congress, NLC, held sway
between 2008 and 2016. He
re-introduced the populist
ideology, which immediately
endeared him to the masses.
He demystified
government and Osadebey
Avenue to the extent that even
when there were protests by
interest groups in the state, he
readily welcomed them.
He once told workers that
being a labour leader; he
would not mind joining them
to protest against his own
government.
In the eight years of
Oshiomhole as governor,
going to Osadebey Avenue
was not a big deal to anybody;
the rich, the poor, the low and
mighty had unhindered
access even some without any
mission, but just for the
pride of that “I am coming
from Osadebey Avenue.”
Oshiomhole, during his
tenure, had course severally
to reprimand his security
aides for denying people entry to
Osadebey Avenue or coming close to him. In
2011 when President Muhammadu <strong>Buhari</strong>,
then of the Congress for Progressives Change,
CPC, visited Osadebey Avenue for his
campaign, not less than 100 commercial motor
cyclists, called Okada rode alongside his
convoy into Government House, an incident
that created a huge security breach
Entrance into Osadebey Avenue was
unrestricted, while politicians and political
appointees created an informal gathering
point under a tree in front of the Governor’s
Office, which they called ‘Parliament’. Some
people just go to ‘Parliament’ to hang around
•Obaseki
for politicians from who they could get
something.
Under the current dispensation, that is
Obaseki administration, it is a completely
different game. Going to Osadebey Avenue
without justifiable reason is a waste of time
for the visitor will not get attention.
Osadebey Avenue now runs like a strictly
government entity, mainly for business and
nothing more. A very prominent Benin Chief
once shared his experience with Saturday
Vanguard, which he said made him stop
visiting Osadebey Avenue without invitation.
“I had visited the governor after his victory
in the Court of Appeal over his governorship
election. I expected to see many party faithful
and leaders celebrating, but I was surprised
that when I got there, the place was without
any sign of celebration, they told me that the
governor was attending to files in his office. I
left and decided never to visit unless invited”.
However, Governor Obaseki said it several
times during his campaign that there was no
reason people should go to Osadebey Avenue
without any cause. He once said that every
political activity would be at the party
secretariat while Osadebey Avenue would be
for governance.
Dress code
For the eight years, Oshiomhole was in
government, the dress code in Osadebey
Avenue was his traditional labour khaki attire
and virtually all political appointees,
including contractors adopted that dress code
as a way of identifying with the governor and
possibly currying favour. In fact, Pidgin
English was as good as the Queen’s English.
With a technocrat like Obaseki in
government, the dress code has changed
drastically from a carefree style to completely
formal style of dressing. Virtually everybody
is smartly dressed like bankers and
pleasantries always straight and brief, no
ceremonies on greetings and visits.
Political patronage
What has also radically changed is political
patronage from Osadebey Avenue, which is
now almost nonexistent. Paying courtesy call
or visit to Oshiomhole was a delight and the
visitors were sure of lunch, either in cash or
in kind. This encouraged virtually every group
and associations scrambling to visit
Oshiomhole, including those without any
clear mission because Oshiomhole, being the
‘peoples’ governor’ “would not allow you
leave Osadebey Avenue without lunch.
A civil society activist, who shared his
experience on how they visited Obaseki and
were not even given water, on the other hand,
said: “There is nothing wrong in that, it is
just about his own style of interacting with
people and the style has actually paid off
because Government House is no longer
crowded.
One source asserted: “Obaseki’s first action
shortly after inauguration was to ban
politicians, especially those from his political
party, the APC, who had no business at the
Denis Osadebey Avenue, as it was during the
days of Oshiomhole. The Government House
has thus been turned into a no - go area for
politicians who have no business there.”
Project Inspection
Inspection of project is another area of very
sharp difference between Governor Obaseki
and Oshiomhole. While Oshiomhole was
continuously embarking on project
inspections, where he also had the
opportunity of mingling with masses and
sharing their feelings and used the
opportunity to tell them what more projects
his government would execute, Obaseki
SATURDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2019—13
hardly goes on project inspection. He prefers
to rely on other government officials
believing that they would always work to
specification.
Attitude to work
However, one of Obaseki’s appointees said
that change was needed going by where the
state was coming from and where it needed
to go. He said, “There are so many things
out there that people do not know and if we
do not manage things differently, we will run
into crisis and in any case, this is the reason
our predecessor picked Governor Obaseki
because he believed that he has the
managerial capacity to handle the issues and
make a difference. “
“For instance, we were having resources
before, oil prices plummeted, there was no
direct good fund coming into the state again,
so things have to change radically because
things have changed. So entire style required
change, they, the politicians are still
benefiting but not in the same mold it used to
be when Comrade was there. However, they
will still go to Comrade and say he is starving
us.
“The services some of these other persons
needed to survive (referring to political thugs,
who were collecting revenue of behalf of
government), we do not need them now so
the governor had to change the style,” he
added.
An APC leader said, “He made it known to
the foot soldiers of Oshiomhole that he
remains a technocrat, who believes that the
revenue from the Federation Account and the
Internally Generated Revenue were meant for
the development of the state and not for
sharing among politicians.”
“Unlike his predecessor in office, he is on
the quiet side and as a bureaucrat, he believes
in speaking to the files and that his works
will speak for him. Although he chose to
concentrate on his works, when pushed to
the wall, he has proved that he can bite, a trait
being demonstrated in the ongoing crisis
between him and his political godfather,
Oshiomhole over the control of the soul of the
party in the state,” he added.
Oshiomhole’s plus
and minus points
For some political leaders in the state, the
power struggle between Oshiomhole and
Obaseki did not take them unawares for both
are two antithetical individuals. Whereas
Oshiomhole has an experienced labour
background, Obaseki is from the corporate
world before his foray into the foggy waters
of politics.
Even if they were Siamese twins, they have
their individual characteristics and
worldviews on events surrounding them.
Therefore, those who expect them to view
things from the same perspective are to some
extent wrong.
As a man from the labour background,
Oshiomhole believes in populist policies and
sometimes do not believe in protocols when
he wants to achieve results in what is topmost
in his heart.
He demonstrated while in office that he is
a party man, who believes that government
should reward stalwarts that worked and
laboured for the party, but sometimes, he is
very impatient and brash with those who
drooped in the implementation of policies.
A party leader, who spoke to one of our
reporters, said, “The problem started when
governor banned APC leaders from entering
Government House, saying the days of
sharing money at Government House was
over. It is not between him and Oshiomhole,
we were the ones that met Oshiomhole and
asked him to intervene, but he kept saying
we should be patient.”
“If not for Oshiomhole, who insisted, he
was not ready to conduct local government
elections and until now, he has refused to
make board appointments because he does
not want to empower politicians. Some APC
leaders, including the powerful Mrs. Lucy
Omagbon and her husband, Bob Izua and
others have all dumped APC because of
him,” he added.
Obaseki
Multiple sources confirmed to Saturday
Vanguard that Obaseki made it known from
the onset when he assumed power that he
would concentrate on the governance of the
state and would leave the running of the
political party to the politicians with
Oshiomhole as the political leader.
Speaking for himself at last weekend’s
Abuja event, Obaseki said: “If you understand
what happened in Edo state up to 2006, the
lone state actors (referring to thugs) became
empowered by the political class. They were
collecting revenues, determining things. They
were like an alternative government. They
constituted themselves into a vermin that
were used for political activities.”
“Part of the crises we had to deal with was
how to remove these thugs from the streets,
from collecting revenue and intimidating
private businesses,” he said.
A source close to Obaseki said: “Some of
these persons fighting the governor had some
expectations when he entered power, so when
they were not met, they got angry. You could
walk to Oshiomhole when he was
governor as a party complaining about
your problem and leave with something, but
under Obaseki, you cannot get anything.”