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The 2023 general election did not present most state governors in a positive light. Nor did it paint a complimentary portrait of the government of Nigeria and its various relevant arms and institutions connected with the conduct of the polls. The worst in the democratic credentials of the government and most of the governors were exposed in the elections. There were hardly any democrats on horizon.
Among the governors in particular, the ones who were completing their second term and were, therefore, not on the ballot, turned out, oddly, to be very desperate to rig the elections. It boiled down to fear, fear of the unknown. Having exercised their gubernatorial powers over the years, with total contempt for both the rules of financial prudence and rights of their fellow citizens, a number of the departing governors suddenly realized that tomorrow was at the door. They thus became desperate to ensure that they were succeeded, any which way, by their minions who they reckon offer them the only shield from a harsh life after office. The guilty are, indeed, afraid. This was the root of the audacious heist staged by many governors during the elections. If only they had treated their people better.
For the few other governors, whose tenure still subsisted beyond the 2023 elections, the anxiety about their fate after the elections was understandably reduced. Even at that, most of them had their distinct challenges. Take Godwin Obaseki of Edo State for instance. Although he was not on the ballot during the 2023 election, his fate as a political leader, as well as concern for what will happen in the remaining period of his tenure, made the election critical for him. There was a background for any worries the governor would have had. For virtually all of his second term as governor, which commenced in 2020, and indeed, prior to that, Obaseki has been fighting a protracted battle for his political survival.
From the moment during his first term as governor, when he parted ways with his predecessor and political mentor, Adams Oshiomhole, who became national Chairman of their All Progressives Congress (APC), Obaseki has been embattled, politically. When APC refused to give him ticket for a second term, he deftly negotiated his way into the People democratic Party (PDP), on which platform he ran a race of his life for a second term as governor.
Luckily for him, that critical election came in the early robust days of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Election Result Viewing portal (IRev), before the devices developed symptoms of acute arthritic seizure and glitches. Obaseki won his second term election in 2020, clean and emphatically, thanks to the overwhelming approval of voters, as well as the smooth performance of the technology deployed at the election.
Interestingly, Obaseki’s victory for his second term promptly exposed him to other vagaries of politics. Having escaped one godfather in the form of Adams Oshiomhole, he found himself soon after, confronted by the prospect of an even more insufferable godfather in his new party. Nyesom Wike, Rivers State governor, who helped to smoothen his settling into PDP. For Godwin Obaseki as a politician in Edo State, the struggle has been his lot. His struggle with the politically astute Dan Orbih, for the control of the PDP structure in Edo State, seemed, from many perspectives, to be a proxy war with Wike, but no matter.
Up till the eve of the 2023 elections, Obaseki as governor, did not know if the list of PDP candidates for legislative offices in his state will be from his faction or Orbih’s. It was that bad. He prevailed late in the day. To his relief too, he succeeded in gaining majority seats in the state house of Assembly election, a critical development for him for the remaining part of his tenure as governor. The state Assembly has been hobbled by a web of political intrigues and disputation. That has not been a credit for the governor, but for him, it seems, it is all about political survival.
For all the challenges and impediments on his way, Obaseki’s performance as governor has continued to hold out remarkable interest to many beyond Edo State. He has shown remarkable stability and seems to play great premium on standard, with uncommon commitment to reform of various critical sectors in Edo State. Not many governors of the day seem to be as focused and clear with their objectives in office. While it is true that he does appear very uncompromising and conservative in his bearing, he seems driven, not by politics, often, but by the developmental goals he has set for his government. There are ample indicators that Edo is posting an appreciable result.
The recent invitation to Governor Obaseki by the World Bank to attend its 2023 spring meeting, to share his experience on judicious deployment of public resources for the advancement of basic education in his state, is by all objective assessments, an endorsement.
Remarkably, it is not only in the area of education that Obaseki is reported to be striving positively. His re-tooling of the bureaucracy of the state, as well as his commitment to multi-dimensional development of the economic base of the state, make him a governor with a policy thrust to pay attention. So far, he has been accredited with establishing a power plant, even before the federal government approved for states to now generate their own power. He is also credited with embarking on a port project, while also building modular refineries, aggressively developing palm oil farms and other agro-allied sector etc.
Expectedly, not all people in Edo State are impressed. Mr. John Mayaki, an opposition party chieftain in the state took the World Bank and the federal government to task in the wake of the commendations of the governor, for extolling a man he said, has poor democratic credentials. Mayaki accuses Obaseki of stalling the inauguration of a chunk of the members of the State House of Assembly for a full session. This, he said, in addition to the governor’s unspecified negative activities against opposition parties during the 2023 elections, count against him.
Instructively, none of the critics of Obaseki in Edo State, has denied the existence of the development projects credited to him. Nor have anyone denied the acuity of his policies, or the good prospects of his investments for the State.
In the woeful managerial environment of Nigeria of the present era, from top to bottom (apologies to the man on the top), many citizens in many states will wish that their state has, at least, a focused, prudent economic manager, even if he comes short in liberal democratic credentials. At least Obaseki appears to be offering one positive edge to Edo State.
That may well be what the World Bank saw in him. That, actually, is why the world celebrates Paul Kagame of Rwanda. His democratic credentials cannot light a candle. But he holds forth a huge bright economic and human development light in Africa. Nigeria of these acutely discomforting times is replete with political leaders with neither democratic credentials nor good economic management credentials. Nor integrity. Nor even (good)names. What about that?
