ASUE Ighodalo is the perfect Esan progenitor that will transcend from corporate world of accomplishments to Edo political paradise.
There is going to be a political circumnavigation and transient narrative from 1999 irrespective of zoning or not. Elections, they say, is a game of interest and numbers where majority wins the vote, and this has been evident in virtually almost all governorship elections conducted in Edo State. While Edo South senatorial district comprises 7 council regions that are of Benin-speaking descent out of the 18 local government areas that make up the state. Edo North senatorial district has 6 and Edo Central region is made up of the Esan people and has 5 LGAs.
In a democratic society, the government is selected by the people and not a section, which has obviously been the case of the Esan people. Esan, which is one of the three tribes of Edo State, has its local government areas in Edo Central senatorial district, a passageway between Edo South, Edo North and the northern part of Nigeria. Will zoning play a major role in 2024 gubernatorial election in Edo State?
Critics of zoning and power rotation have called for an end to its practice mainly on three grounds to it: It has no place in the Constitution, it is undemocratic, and that it has not and would not solve the problems facing the State. These three points are merely hypothetical and theoretical. They are not crested or engraved on a golden image.
Ironically, the antagonists of power rotation want us to forget the “State Character Principle” in the constitution which requires fairness, justice, inclusion and equitable representation of different ethnic and regional groups in the composition of all tiers of government.
As Edo State prepares for the 2024 Governorship election, one sensitive issue is already creating apprehension: Which section of the State will produce the next Governor?
Going by the practice of zoning and power rotation in existence since 1999, political parties split their Governorship and Deputy candidates between the South, Central and North of the Senatorial districts in the State.
They also alternate the Governorship between the Central, North and south senatorial districts.
This was designed by the framers of the constitution to ensure that there is “no dominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups” in the State government and its agencies.
Therefore, power rotation convention is a necessary lubricant that oils the State character principle in our Constitution and as such it is firmly consistent with the constitution itself and therefore lawful, even though it is not expressly stated in the Constitution.
The truth about democracy is that it thrives in deeply divided societies only when power is shared and not monopolized.
As a major engine that has deepened the democratic process, the rotation of political power, in particular, prevents the domination of power by larger groups or group.
This is in the same way that Governorship term-limit prevents the monopoly of power by a strong individual and the possibility of a president for life, and thus protects a republic from becoming a de facto dictatorship.
And because all countries are divided one way or the other, the practice of power rotation is widespread in democracies around the world.
That is why it is now regarded as the finest political instrument ever invented to ensure political and social stability in deeply polarized societies.
Polarization could either be ideological, ethnic or religious.
In strong democratic countries where polarization is mainly ideological, power rotates periodically, through the electoral process between ideologically opposed political parties.
Although there are reputable indigenes who have demonstrated dynamic leadership as well as scholars across the globe who are of Esan extraction, their hope to lead Edo state had, over the years, been seemingly dealt a blow. A situation they have openly called “marginalization” in the past.
It is worthy of note that since civil rule began in 1999 – with the inception of former Governor Lucky Igbinedion- till date, the Esan people have only been at the helm of affairs of Edo State barely a year, between May 29, 2007 to November 11, 2008 through Oserhiemen Osunbor.After the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin validated the verdict of the Election Petition Tribunal that Adams Oshiomhole of Etsako extraction won the April 2007 election, Osunbor was abruptly removed from office.
More so, since 1999, the governorship and deputy governorship seats had always been between the Edo South and Edo North while the Edo Central region are compensated with the position of speakership in the state house of assembly. Within this period, Edo South has produced two governors and deputy governors namely Lucky Igbinedion and the incumbent Governor, Godwin Obaseki; Mike Oghiadomhe and Philip Shaibu, respectively.
For over 2 decades of democratic rule and sixth times the governorship elections were conducted, the Esan people have only been made governor once for a year except during the short time of democracy in 1979, when Ambrose Alli, a medical professor, was elected governor.
Ambrose Alli served as executive governor of the defunct Bendel State (now Edo and Delta States) during the brief period of democracy from 1979 to 1983 under the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and bequeathed several legacies that span from repositioning educational institutions to numerous infrastructural projects.
The repeated calls and agitation over the supposedly exclusion of the district from the state’s top job has, however, once again reared his ugly head ahead the governorship election likely to be scheduled for September 19, 2024 in the state.
Numerous aspirants from the zone have already declared interest to contend for the governorship position of the state while a consensus move has already begun to woo Edo North and South senatorial zones.
“Some persons are thinking that it should be thrown open to the best candidate which, of course, I am not arguing with the fact, but the best candidate should come from Edo Central senatorial district. Some persons call this Esan agenda but it is not Esan agenda but I call it Edo agenda. This is because Edo South and Edo North know that Edo Central has been sidelined, marginalized and thrown to the backyard for a very long time and Edo Central has all along been supporting all the governors that had emerged from Edo south and north.
In conclusion, taking a chronological look, painstakingly and keenly at the political landscape in Edo State; with or without zoning. I think there should be sense of fairness, equity, inclusion for Esan political circumnavigation, engagement and entitlement come 2024 gubernatorial election. A Legal luminary, a Philanthropist, a remarkable Technocrat, a Financial expert, an Investment Banker and an astute Economist is the answer to Edo political mainstay and landscape @ Dr.Asue Ighodalo Esq.AI(Artificial Intelligence in Human form)
