Edo 2024: We don’t need a stranger in Govt House again – Charles Idahosa

Ex-political adviser to former Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Charles Idahosa, has reiterated his earlier call that the next governor of the state must be a homeboy, who “knows all the nooks and crannies of the state and who can relate with the yearnings and aspirations of the people.”

Idahosa, who was also a Commissioner for Information under Governor Lucky Igbinedion, added that it would not matter which senatorial district the next governor comes from as long as the candidate “is someone who knows the state very well and also understands the culture and custom of Edo people.”

Speaking to journalists during an interactive session in Benin City, Idahosa stressed that in all spheres of human endeavours, Edo State had “homeboys” who had achieved greater heights without moving out of the state.

This was just as he described as unfortunate, the recent crisis between Governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Comrade Philip Shaibu, maintaining that it was wrong for the governor, or any governor whatsoever, to want to determine the political limitations of his deputy, adding that having served in the state House of Assembly and the House of Representatives before becoming deputy governor, it was natural that Shaibu would aspire to be governor as he could not have aimed for a lesser political office.

The outspoken PDP chieftain lamented that he found it unfortunate that leaders who should have spoken the truth to the governor while the crisis lasted, chose to be ambivalent and asked the deputy governor to be loyal to his principal.

According to Idahosa, in such a circumstance, all Governor Obaseki needed to do was to rally the party leaders round his own candidate and ignore his deputy, the same way Oshiomhole ignored his deputy for eight years, Dr Pius Odubu, and mobilised the party to support Obaseki, who at the then All Progressive Congress (APC) primaries, defeated the then sitting two-term deputy governor.

He cautioned Edo people not to reduce his metaphorical “Mama put” statement to a joke, explaining that when he said the next governor “must be someone who knows all the mama puts in the state”, he meant someone who could relate with the people, their pains, and challenges.

“What we are saying is that we can do it in politics. When it comes to politics, we need somebody that understands the terrain and who is part and parcel of the people. You don’t go and bring somebody who doesn’t know us. This time, we need somebody who is part and parcel of us,” Idahosa stressed.

“We need as the next governor of Edo State, someone who understands the terrain, who is part and parcel of the people. We want someone who at the early stage of his tutelage was with us and not someone imported from somewhere else,” he reiterated.

On the recent face-off between Governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Idahosa blamed it on weak leadership, saying, “The major problem we have is weak leadership. What we see here is that people are afraid of telling truth to power. The quarrel was unfortunate. I was very disappointed at some comments of our leaders. The governor has no right to tell the deputy governor the limit of his political ambition. Obaseki didn’t need to fight Shaibu, the fight was totally uncalled for.”

He described the recent celebration of Midwest Region at 60 in Benin, as “a bazaar” and uncalled for, because there was no basis for celebrating a state that had defunct.
He said the organisers of the event, rather than celebrating Midwest at 60, should have been worried that Benin City which was capital of Midwest Region when Nigeria had four regions, is now under Port-Harcourt which was formerly under South-East Region with Enugu as capital.

Idahosa also spoke on the division within the ranks of members of the PDP ahead of the state governorship election and acknowledged that “there is a problem in the party, I just pray the PDP puts its house in order before the election”.