Contestants would be more confident of a level playing field, whether or not their rivals have the backing of Aso Rock or the Government House. And in future, the lion that wishes to swallow the lizard whole, would be careful to ensure that the prey is indeed a lizard and not a porcupine.
The expectation of a crushing defeat for Obaseki was not based on the face value of Comrade’s boast alone. It was also based on anecdotal wisdom of what can and does happen in politics when federal might is invested in a political candidate. Oshiomhole’s style was blamed for APC’s poor performances. At a time when the party needed to rally to save its only outpost in the South South, the party came to Edo bitterly divided, both by the removal of Oshiomhole as chairman and by the party’s refusal to give Obaseki a second-term ticket.
APC is sick from a disease that was largely self-inflicted. As a result of intra-party disputes in the primaries before the 2019 general elections, the party lost four states – Zamfara, Bauchi, Adamawa and Bayelsa; it lost Imo momentarily, and then snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in Kano. For the party, it was also about 2023. It was about who gets a big say in lining up the new executive at the party’s next national convention. Aggrieved party members couldn’t find a better opportunity to drive a bigger stake in the struggle for control than to let things fall apart in Edo and in doing so weaken any rivalry from contending forces, especially the core Action Congress of Nigeria wing of the party led by Tinubu.
After an initial false start, the PDP regained its footing and successfully framed the election as a contest between light and darkness, between narcissistic predators and freedom lovers, a narrative that would have stirred the soul of Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi.