Politics

2024: Edo And The Politics Of Zoning [OPINION]

Published

2 years ago

October 19, 2023

One plus that accrues to Edo State politically is that every four years, the Edo governorship election has a different date from the main election dates of the federation. That stagger, from the national political grid, naturally allows the entire nation to give it focus and there is ample time and unfettered space for robust discussions about the likely outcomes.

So it is now as the countdown has invariably begun to the seventh governorship elections in the state, that is, seventh since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999. Permutation and extrapolation are on. Graphs are being drawn just as political pundits are analysing and re-analysing the pathways and players that would determine the next occupant of Osadebay Avenue, come 2024. Critical among the many crucial strands of political and social discourses about this all-important governorship elections in Edo State is the subject of zoning.

We in Ogbakha-Edo, ever conscious of the socio-political terrains we survey and sensitive to the interplay of forces impinging on the fortunes of the good people of Edo South and, indeed, of the entire Edo State, wish to record our views about this trending issue of zoning.

Some may wonder why this rejoinder is pertinent since political parties are yet to officially announce their candidates. Yet, social, traditional and grapevine media have obvious iterations that already seek to spin a predetermined narrative for the position of governor in Edo State. And quite unfortunately, the body and voice languages seem determined to dictate that only a governor from Edo Central is morally entitled to aspire for and acquire the apex seat of our dear state in 2024.

The primary “justification” by the proponents of this posture is the argument that sixteen out of the twenty-four years of our reborn, albeit nascent, democratic sojourn in the state have been filled by governors of Edo South extraction. Growing from this purported marginalisation which is being surreptitiously spun into an emotional blackmail of sorts is a nearly enervating contention of the Esan Agenda sponsors. In words and in deeds, some seek to demonise anyone who dares to hold an alternative view to their Esan-must-rule position.

FROM ALSO: PDP Crisis Made Manipulation Of 2023 Election Easy – Bode George

We do not believe that a tribal card, cleverly adorned with the cloak of zoning, is what Edo State needs at this point. We do not think that tribal descent is the foremost consideration in catapulting the state from its current nearly antediluvian age of untold backwardness and underdevelopment spanning the length and breadth of our urban and rural centres to a frontline destination of trade, commerce and wealth.

To pursue crucially needed cognate development in Edo State, to make progress and happiness available to our people, we must embrace open mindedness and decide wisely. Our mission here is to enlighten our people sufficiently and therefore broaden the thinking of well-meaning Edo citizens so that we do not mark time for four more years while neighbouring baby states are placing themselves on the map of world recognition for good.

Quite clearly, the politics of zoning has no place in the laws of our land as far as political positions are concerned. Political parties, of course, have the liberty to employ zoning as a policy of fairness and inclusiveness. Instructive it is though that mature political permutations often require that parties look before they leap and so would never sacrifice quality representation and quest for electoral victory on the altar of tribal considerations.

Politics is a game of numbers, not an exercise in emotional gymnastics and puerile infantilism. Parties put their best feet forward, understanding that, as Yale professor of law and political scientist Harold Lasswell puts it, “politics is about who gets what, when and how.” We expect that vying political parties in the state would field robust candidates who model a meeting point of cognate experience in public office dealings with private sector understanding; capacity and a clear articulation of dire and needed expectations; true grassroots representation thinking fuelled by longstanding connection with grassroots’ hopes and aspirations of the good people of the state; and, of course, a capacity to pool the needed human support to win an election in a fairly plural state like ours.

Our Esan brothers should not expect that the numbers would be swallowed up in tribal patronage. If indeed we are one, having a consanguinity that draws from the deepest of historical roots, Esan quite clearly being the junior in the Edoid nativity, it should not be hard for them to accept that whether from Edo South, North or Central, a good governor is a good governor. The days of expecting development only on the platter of tribal presence in Osadebay Avenue are far gone. Ours should be a mindset that frees our political space to throw up persons who can bring the much needed development to the state. It is not tied to tribe, and shouldn’t be.

As Ciceros and elderly citizens in the political space of Edo, we believe we have capacity to see beyond narrow sentiments. Thus, it is crucial that we sound the bell now, resonate and reverberated. A pursuit of a purely tribal agenda will ultimately place the peace loving people of Edo State on an unnecessary pathway of collision, hatred and anomie. Emotions will be bruised, tribal intolerance could spiral out of control as the signs already suggest in the dialogues surfacing on social media spaces. We must not allow present day politicians draw us into a fight of blame in which they have personal and ulterior motives. The subtle attempt to introduce bad blood into our peaceful state in the name of zoning must be resisted by all. The ploy to achieve personal objectives by knocking heads in the state must be firmly challenged and overthrown.

We have been governed in this state by an Esan man who demonstrated capacity and a love for the entire state. Professor Ambrose Alli of evergreen memory was a governor for all. He neither rose to that status by flying the Esan Agenda flag nor were non-Esan candidates made to feel threatened through emotional blackmail. The tenure of the respected late professor of morbid anatomy came on board as a vision whose time had inevitably come. Citizens gave their votes not because of a zoning reward or political grandstanding and gang up but as a natural concomitance of massive acceptance of a self-effacing man who sought to serve his state. Coming as minority in a state that then included the Niger Delta in the defunct Bendel State, he won the elections to become the first executive governor of then Bendel State.

Beyond that, we must ask, “Whose nest is about to be feathered by this tribal drumming in the land?” Who is pushing, and for what purpose? We question the altruism of this nauseous inorganic political concoction being prepared for purely selfish reasons but deodorised with a false perfume of zoning. Edo must resist any attempts to give the state as reward for privately driven interests.

One underbelly of this new mantra is the rightness of foisting a play on Edo State which was not permitted at the national level. Charity would have been seen to have begun at home had the PDP as a political party, for instance, insisted that the zoning system be employed in choosing who ran its flag during the last presidential elections. It smacks of double standards to be supportive of a non-zoning and liberalised internal electioneering for the 2023 presidential event, lining up behind a candidate of northern extraction who would have succeeded another northerner, but now attempt to deprive citizens of our state the full latitude to seek the number one position of the state because of their tribes. That cannot be allowed.

Edo is blessed with citizens who can govern this equally blessed state. Edo can be far better than it is today. We cannot submit ourselves to narrow tribal compulsives in the name of zoning or impose upon0 ourselves limitations that cannot do for the larger number of people the greater good in the shortest possible time. Whether Edo South, North or Central, the right to breathe is not limited to minority tribes. The majority also needs oxygen and protection from political asphyxation in the pretended name of zoning. The Right to breathe should be thrown open as it was in the February 25th Presidential election by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

By Professor Sam Guobadia and Dr. A. O. Izekor, Chairman and Secretary, Ogbakha-Edo

Politics

Anambra Govt Insists Ekwunife Retracts Defamatory Statements Against Soludo, Wife

Published

3 hours ago

September 17, 2025

Editor

The Anambra State Government has insisted that Senator Uche Ekwunife’s contrite apology must follow a personal and direct retraction of her defamatory statements against Governor Chukwuma Soludo and his wife, Nonye.

Senior Special Assistant to Governor Soludo on New Media, Ejimofor Opara, in a statement on Wednesday said Senator Ekwunife’s purported apology is another fabrication fit for the waste bin.

“Our attention has been drawn to a press statement purporting to emanate from an entity described as the “Ekwunife Campaign Organization” and captioned “EKWUNIFE CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION DISOWNS AND CONDEMNS MALICIOUS ARTICLE ASSOCIATED WITH HER”. This purported apology from a seemingly fictitious organization raises more questions than answers,” Opara said.

“Worse still, the statement was signed by an unknown person who was not the source of Madam Ekwunife’s slur remarks against the Governor and his wife.

“The publication, authored by one Tony Ezike, Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, presents several issues: The publication purporting to be an apology for the defamatory statements made against the Governor and his wife personally by Senator Ekwunife, does not appear to have emanated from the Senator herself, given that her defamatory statements were made directly via recorded video and leaked audio conversation.”

Opara said it is a known fact that there is no campaign organization known as the Ekwunife Campaign Organization since Senator Ekwunife’s ticket is a joint one with the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He said this suggests that the statement did not truly emanate from Senator Ekwunife and therefore cannot be credited to her, adding that at best, it may be a ploy to prevaricate the fundamental issues posed by the First Lady in her personally signed statement.

Opara added that wherein Soludo’s wife challenged Senator Ekwunife to two key issues, first of which, is that she, as a converted Catholic, agrees to swear to an oath before the blessed sacrament that she has not known any other man since her marriage to Chief Larry Ekwunife, and she (Dr. Nonye Soludo) would also do same.

The second is for her to accept an all expense paid DNA test of her four children, three of whom were allegedly fathered by men other than her husband. In like manner, Mrs Soludo would present her six children for same test.

Opara argued that the defamatory publications were directly made by Senator Ekwunife through audio recordings and statements, stressing that any apology or retraction should logically come from the same source to carry significance.

He added that sadly, the so-called apology never referenced Ekwunife’s initial video and audio but chose to focus on an unsigned article.

Opara further said: “The purported apology referencing an unknown article with unknown authors, only points to one thing, and that is her complicity directly or indirectly as the source of the article—which contains only one of the many accusations she made against the Governor’s wife—it implies that no genuine apology was intended or tendered.

“The publication is not considered an apology or retraction by Senator Ekwunife and is believed not to emanate from her. If she intended to apologize, she should present it in a manner that leaves no doubt about its source or reliability.

“More importantly, slander or libel directly made by an individual cannot be vicariously dismissed by any agent or person other than the individual who made them.

“We consider the purported apology as another unsubstantiated social media gossip/fabrication that is neither verifiable nor credible. It leaves ample room for plausible deniability.

“We will proceed as if this piece of propaganda never happened, while maintaining the position that a proper and direct retraction of all fabrications against the Governor and his wife by Senator Ekwunife is necessary.”

Opara added that such a retraction should be made through a medium that leaves no doubt about its authenticity.

Therefore, he said that a contrite apology must follow a personal and direct retraction of Ekwunife’s defamatory statements.

Politics

Why Ibadan Shouldn’t Produce Next Oyo Gov — Group

Published

6 hours ago

September 17, 2025

Editor

A group of eminent indigenes across 22 local government areas outside Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, under the aegis of Oyo G22 Renewed, has lamented what it described as decades of marginalisation in the governance of the state.

The group, in an open letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, and the national and state chairmen of the All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, and African Democratic Congress, decried what it called a “historic and intolerable imbalance and insensitivity being perpetrated in Oyo State as far as the governorship slot is concerned.”

Among those who signed the letter were Prof. Wande Abimbola, Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu, Prof. Sulaiman Gbadegesin, Dr. Adesokan Ojebode, Prof. Nurain Tanimowo, Mr. Dokun Alagbe, Dr Akin Onigbinde and retired General Kunle Togun.

Since 1983, the group pointed out, Ibadan had produced Omololu Olunloyo, Kolapo Ishola, Lamidi Adesina, Rashidi Ladoja, Abiola Ajimobi, and the incumbent Makinde as governors.

They therefore called on all political parties in the state to ensure that their 2027 governorship candidates emerge from the non-Ibadan zones of Ogbomoso, Oyo, Ibarapa, and Oke-Ogun.

They noted that the only non-Ibadan indigene to emerge governor was the late Adebayo Alao-Akala from Ogbomoso, who governed between May 2007 and May 2011.

The letter read, “A cursory look at the pattern of governorship candidates and elections in other South-West states has revealed that, contrary to the winner-takes-all situation in Oyo State, no particular zone has been dominating the political landscape of their respective states.

“All told, the voting pattern in Oyo State has consistently shown that only 30 per cent of the voting population in Ibadan are Ibadan indigenes. The implication of this is that the remaining 70 per cent belong to the other zones of the state as well as non-indigenes of Oyo State.”

They urged Ibadan indigenes to abandon what they termed an uncompromising posture and, in the interest of “justice, peaceful co-existence, equity, and fairness,” ensure that candidates from the 22 LGAs outside Ibadan produce the next governor.

“We, on behalf of the 22 local government areas outside Ibadan in the state, are determined to make the following changes: that all political parties in the state should support this peaceful and legitimate demand of the remaining four zones in the state by ensuring that their respective parties nominate governorship candidates from among the 22 local government areas for the 2027 general election.

“That you prevail on your political platform to make this a reality and a realisable objective in the interest of all.

“While we are not oblivious of the fact that you belong to different political platforms, apart from our current interest in rotating the governorship seat in Oyo State, as a neutral body, we wish every platform success in the forthcoming general election in 2027.

“However, we would be earnestly delighted to give our unflinching support to those who support this, our only aspiration.

“In thanking you for giving thoughts to this, our humble consideration, we are confident that your intervention, as the leaders of your various platforms, would soften the hearts of our Ibadan co-compatriots on this vexed issue,” the letter read.

Citing examples from neighbouring states, the group further argued that governors of Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti States were typically not indigenes of the state capitals, unlike in Oyo, where Ibadan has largely dominated the governorship.

“For instance, since the creation of Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti States, apart from rotating the governorship slot, no indigene of the state capitals—Akure, Osogbo, and Ado-Ekiti—has been elected governor of these three states. The citizens of the state capital have always ensured that the governor comes from outside the state capital. In Ogun State, the slot oscillates between the Egbas and the Ijebus.

“Even at the federal level, if the North had weaponised its famed voting population, no Southerner would have emerged as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is where the seeming uncompromising posture of Ibadan becomes an issue,” the letter read.

Politics

FULL TEXT: Tinubu Ends State Of Emergency In Rivers State

Published

8 hours ago

September 17, 2025

Editor

My Fellow countrymen and, in particular, the good people of Rivers State.

I am happy to address you today on the state of emergency declaration in Rivers State. You will recall that on 18th March, 2025, I proclaimed a state of emergency in the state. In my proclamation address, I highlighted the reasons for the declaration. The summary of it for context is that there was a total paralysis of governance in Rivers State, which had led to the Governor of Rivers State and the House of Assembly being unable to work together. Critical economic assets of the State, including oil pipelines, were being vandalised.

The State House of Assembly was crisis-ridden, such that members of the House were divided into two groups. Four members worked with the Governor, while 27 members opposed the Governor. The latter group supported the Speaker. As a result, the Governor could not present any Appropriation Bill to the House, to enable him to access funds to run Rivers State’s affairs.

That serious constitutional impasse brought governance in the State to a standstill. Even the Supreme Court, in one of its judgments in a series of cases filed by the Executive and the Legislative arms of Rivers State against each other, held that there was no government in Rivers State. My intervention and that of other well-meaning Nigerians to resolve the conflict proved abortive as both sides stuck rigidly to their positions to the detriment of peace and development of the State.

It therefore became painfully inevitable that to arrest the drift towards anarchy in Rivers State, I was obligated to invoke the powers conferred on me by Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to proclaim the state of emergency. The Offices of the Governor, Deputy Governor, and elected members of the State House of Assembly were suspended for six months in the first instance. The six months expire today, September 17th, 2025.

I thank the National Assembly, which, after critically evaluating the justification for the proclamation, took steps immediately, as required by the Constitution, to approve the declaration in the interest of peace and order in Rivers State. I also thank our traditional rulers and the good people of Rivers State for their support from the date of the declaration of the state of emergency until now.

I am not unaware that there were a few voices of dissent against the proclamation, which led to their instituting over 40 cases in the courts in Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa, to invalidate the declaration. That is the way it should be in a democratic setting. Some cases are still pending in the courts as of today. But what needs to be said is that the power to declare a state of emergency is an inbuilt constitutional tool to address situations of actual or threatened breakdown of public order and public safety, which require extraordinary measures to return the State to peace, order and security.

Considered objectively, we had reached that situation of total breakdown of public order and public safety in Rivers State, as shown in the judgment of the Supreme Court on the disputes between the Executive and the Legislative arm of Rivers State. It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation.

As a stakeholder in democratic governance, I believe that the need for a harmonious existence and relationship between the executive and the legislature is key to a successful government, whether at the state or national level.

The people who voted us into power expect to reap the fruits of democracy. However, that expectation will remain unrealizable in an atmosphere of violence, anarchy, and insecurity borne by misguided political activism and Machiavellian manipulations among the stakeholders.

I am happy today that, from the intelligence available to me, there is a groundswell of a new spirit of understanding, a robust readiness, and potent enthusiasm on the part of all the stakeholders in Rivers State for an immediate return to democratic governance. This is undoubtedly a welcome development for me and a remarkable achievement for us. I therefore do not see why the state of emergency should exist a day longer than the six months I had pronounced at the beginning of it.

It therefore gives me great pleasure to declare that the emergency in Rivers State of Nigeria shall end with effect from midnight today. The Governor, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara, the deputy governor, Her Excellency Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and the speaker, Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from 18 September 2025.

I take this opportunity to remind the Governors and the Houses of Assembly of all the States of our country to continue to appreciate that it is only in an atmosphere of peace, order, and good government that we can deliver the dividends of democracy to our people. I implore all of you to let this realisation drive your actions at all times.

I thank you all.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.