ANALYSIS: Trust Deficit Looms Over Edo Poll Amid ‘Federal Might’ Concerns

Days to the September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo State, a new social media campaign, #ReleasePDPSupporters, emerged on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The campaign is targeted at the Nigeria Police Force and is based on concerns over reports that several members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State had been arrested by the Police and detained in Abuja, in the build-up to the election.

THE WHISTLER reports that concerns have been expressed in several quarters over the possible deployment of federal might in the election. The concerns have continued to heighten as the election draws nearer, despite the assurance by the Inspector General of Police that the Police will be neutral.

Allegations of a police clampdown on PDP members were first raised by Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, Director-General Asue/Ogie Campaign Management Council – the campaign team of PDP gubernatorial candidate, Asue Ighodalo. Addressing journalists on August 18 in Benin City, the campaign spokesman said some key members of the PDP have been arrested by the Police, while others are on a ‘wanted list’.

Alleging that the move was part of a plot to weaken the PDP ahead of the poll, Iduoriyekemwen went ahead to release the names of some PDP members on the alleged Police wanted list. “Among the names believed to be on this list include Chief Odion Olaye, Chief Francis Inegbiniki, Chief B. Olukoga, Mr Festus Osaigbovo, Dr. Kelly Inedegbor, Chairman of Esan North East Local Government Area, among others whose identities have yet to be confirmed,” he said.

On September 10, Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, provided further update on the issue, announcing that 10 PDP leaders were being detained at the Police Headquarters in Abuja including a local government chairman and officials of the Edo State Security Network, ESSN – the security outfit of the Edo State Government, established by Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Obaseki, in a post on his official X handle on September 11, ramped up the allegation, accusing the Police of working with the All Progressives Congress, APC, to intimidate and harass members of the PDP. Obaseki went further to identify the chairman of Owan West LGA as one of the arrested PDP leaders.

“It is unbecoming of officers of the Nigeria Police Force to connive with the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) to illegally arrest and detain members of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and to stir up crisis in Edo State in the lead-up to the guber poll.

“I have it on good authority that the plan is to arrest as many PDP stalwarts as possible. This is a very dangerous trend and poses a real threat to our democracy. A situation where the sitting local government chairman of Esan West is arrested and whisked away to Abuja, undermining my authority as the Chief Security Officer of the State is unacceptable,” the governor posted.

The role of the ESSN in the election was at the centre of a dispute between the Police and the Edo State Government.

The IGP, Egbetokun, had, during a stakeholders meeting organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Benin City on September 11, announced that the Edo State Security Network, ESSN, has been barred from participating in the election.

Announcing the decision, the IGP stressed that the task of securing voters and electoral materials rests squarely on the Police, who will be supported by other security agencies to ensure a credible election.

“No private or state-owned security apparatus would be allowed to operate during and after the election. All quasi-security operatives in Edo State should refrain from participating in the Edo election. Activities of Edo State Security Network which has been suspended remain suspended,” the IGP said.

The Edo State Government described the IGP’s action as illegal.

Speaking on September 12, Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser on Media Project to the Edo State Governor, said the IGP has no constitutional power to suspend the ESSN, as it is a creation of the Edo State House of Assembly.

“The Edo State government insists that the ESSN is a body set up by law passed by the Edo State House of Assembly.

“This is tantamount to the IGP disbanding the Western Nigeria Security Network, popularly known as Operation Amotekun, ahead of the governorship election in Ondo State billed for next month. The government notes that it is unconstitutional for the IGP to make such a declaration since Section 11 (1), Section 11 (2) empowers the State House of Assembly to set up structures for public safety and security of the state,” Osagie said.

But he further disclosed that “in the interest of peace”, Governor Obaseki has directed all operatives of the ESSN to proceed on leave from September 11 to September 23, 2024, after the election.

While the PDP-led state government appears to have bowed to the IGP’s decision to bar the ESSN from the election, the party is still beating the war drums over the arrest of its members by the Police. The development was given as the reason for the party’s refusal to sign the Peace Accord on September 12.

Seventeen political parties – including the APC which had initially announced that it would boycott the event – signed the Peace Accord, with PDP declining. Former Head of State, General Adulsalami Abubakar, who is the head of the Peace Committee, which brokered the Peace Accord, had announced during the event that Edo State Governor, Obaseki said the PDP won’t sign the Peace Accord due to some allegations levelled against the Police.

Appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today on September 17, PDP guber candidate Ighodalo insisted on the release of the arrested party members as a condition to sign the Peace Accord.

“We had several conditions, most of which have now been met with one left. Many of our guys have been held unjustly. We think if you hold guys, you charge them or let them go on bail. So, either they charge all our guys or let them go on bail. Once that is achieved we will sign the peace accord,” Ighodalo said.

The Police have, so far, not said much about the alleged arrest and detention of the PDP members. But speaking during the signing of the Peace Accord in Benin City on September 12, IGP Egbetokun had assured that the Police would be impartial during the election.

“I’m here today to reaffirm our commitment to a peaceful and secure electoral process. We recognise the importance of this moment and the trust placed in us to protect the integrity of this election.

“We will remain impartial, professional, and vigilant while providing a level playing ground for political parties and their candidates,” the Police chief pledged.

The IGP had also announced that 35,000 policemen would be deployed for the Edo election.

Plans by the PDP-led government in Edo State to deploy the ESSN for the election were never going to materialise as, being a state government-created and funded security outfit, the agency can’t be expected to play a neutral role in the poll. Besides, barring the ESSN from election duty was in line with election security protocols as similar ‘quasi-security’ outfits had been barred in previous polls.

Again, concerns had been raised over the activities of the ESSN following the killing of Inspector Akor Onu, a Police officer attached as a security aide to the governorship candidate of the APC, Senator Monday Okpebholo. One was shot dead on July 18, along the Airport Road in Benin City by yet-to-be-identified gunmen. The incident occurred during a fracas that ensued when Okpebholo and the impeached Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, arrived in Benin from Abuja and were driving away from the airport in a convoy.

The governorship election in Edo State presents an interesting scenario. While the PDP has the advantage of incumbency – being the party in power in the state – APC is the party in power at the federal level and enjoys the potential advantage of federal might. INEC and the Police, the bodies that run the election, and whose actions – to a very large extent – determine the credibility of the exercise – are federal institutions.

Being an off-cycle election taking place in just one state, the ruling party at the federal level can afford to deploy all its resources and might in Edo State towards realizing a favourable outcome in the poll. This informs PDP’s concerns over the role of the Police. If the Police clamping down on PDP chieftains in the build-up to election day, as alleged, concerns over possible deployment of federal might appear justified.

Indeed, for the PDP, there seems to be reasonable cause for concern. The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Edo State, Prof. Anugbum Onuoha, had served as Commissioner and Special Adviser for Lands, Survey and Housing under Nyesom Wike’s administration as Rivers State governor. It was also revealed that the REC is Wike’s cousin. Wike, who remains a PDP member, is currently serving as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, in the President Bola Tinubu-led APC Federal Government.

Wike was a staunch supporter of Obaseki during his (Obaseki’s) campaign for a second term in office with the PDP four years ago, after the incumbent governor fell out with his ‘godfather’, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, in the APC. However, Wike and Obaseki have become political foes ever since, following an internal feud in the Edo PDP which pitted Obaseki against Wike’s ally, Dan Orbih, and other chieftains of the party. Already, Wike has declared that he will not support Ighodalo, the PDP gubernatorial candidate in the Edo election – a decision that mirrors his opposition to the PDP candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar.

Concerned over INEC’s neutrality, the PDP forwarded a letter to the Commission’s chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, demanding Onuoha’s immediate redeployment as REC. The letter raised concerns over the REC’s relationship with Wike.

But INEC has made it clear that the REC is going nowhere.

“The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Edo State will not be redeployed. The governorship election will be conducted on 21st September 2024 in 4,519 polling units, not in the REC’s office,” Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman said, urging the PDP to focus on the process of the election and not on the REC.

Meanwhile, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, CNPP, an umbrella body of Nigerian political parties and political associations, has said the concerns being expressed by the PDP concerning the REC are justified.

Speaking with THE WHISTLER ahead of the gubernatorial poll, Comrade James Ezema, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the CNPP, said INEC ought to ensure that the political parties participating in the election are comfortable with the electoral officials.

Ezema said, “With what happened in 2023, what PDP is feeling aggrieved about is what anybody that is participating in the election should be concerned about. In the 2023 presidential election, we saw how Wike came out to talk about how he worked for the current President, even though he was in the PDP and now he is employed by the APC government. So it is something one should be concerned about.

“I don’t see why INEC is not willing to ensure fair play in the game, in the sense that none of the participants should be uncomfortable with anyone appointed as the REC or whoever is going to oversee the election. I don’t know why INEC should be too vehement in not attending to the concerns raised by the PDP. If the PDP is not comfortable with the official, it is the responsibility of INEC to ensure that none of the election officials has a relationship with any of the parties. That is how it is supposed to be.”

He warned that INEC’s refusal to resolve the issue properly could create room for ‘self-help’.

“When somebody that is participating in an election is not comfortable with the umpire, what do you expect? It is a recipe for self-help because, at the end of the day, some people may decide to resort to self-help because they believe that INEC will not be fair. INEC should not be adamant and behave as if what the PDP is saying lacks substance. All the parties that have candidates should be made to be comfortable with the arrangements and the persons that are conducting the election.”