Jonathan’s defeat, Okunbor’s rejig jolt Edo PDP

The defeat of President Goodluck Jonathan has changed the politics of Edo State and the question in the minds of many is how the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state will be able to muster that formidable opposition to the Governor Adams Oshiomhol- led APC now that the PDP has been kicked out of power at the center.

Sadly for the PDP, shortly after the defeat of Jonathan by Gen.Muhammadu Buhari of the APC in the March 28 election, some leaders of the PDP in the state such as former Governor Osarhiemen Osunbor; Gen.Charles Airhiavbere, who ran against Oshiomhole in 2012; and many others dumped the PDP for the APC. Meanwhile, the PDP did well in the National Assembly election picking two of the three Senate and five House of Reps seats.

Chief Tony Anenih held his ground in his Edo Central, picking the Senate seat there as well as the three House of Reps and three state Assembly seats for the PDP. Of all the PDP leaders in the state, only Anenih won House of Assembly seats for his party. However, the PDP was able to capture majority of the National Assembly seats in Edo South due to the efforts of the Benin-born billionaire, Captain Hosa Okunbor, who invested so much in the area to deliver Jonathan, his bosom friend. But there was another big blow for the PDP following his rejig after the defeat of the President when he switched support for the APC.

Though Capee, as he is fondly called, is not a politician, it was observed that he dabbled into politics to assist his Benin people to key into the power at the center after he lamented the marginalization of the Binis by the Federal Government. Okunbor once said: “We cannot always remain in opposition because our people in Benin land are suffering. Our youths need jobs because the state government cannot provide all the jobs we need but if we are in tandem with the Federal Government more things will come to our people. And that was my major reason for going close to Jonathan and went out of my way to sponsor PDP so that we can key into the system. I don’t have all the money to help every Bini man so we must find a away to help our people”.

After the defeat of Jonathan, his backing of the APC in Edo for the House of Assembly election paid off for the party. In a statement by a Bini group while reacting to Okunbor’s decision to support the APC in the state assembly polls, it said, “We appreciate the great sacrifice and invaluable contributions that Captain Hosa Okunbo has made in his determination to liberate the Binis in Edo South from the shackles of predetermined underdevelopment, occasioned by years of systematic and systemic political marginalization, which has denied the Bini ethnic nation prominent positions in the Federal Government.

“This is why he had explained to those who cared to listen, he decided to expose himself as a businessman to the vagaries of politics so as to be able to stand in the gap, politically-speaking, for the Binis. It was gratifying that leveraging on his friendship with President Jonathan, Captain Hosa Okunbo, has been able to stand in the gap in Abuja, the centre of power, for the Binis, providing us with dependable leadership and dignified representation both in business and politics.  He has performed this self-imposed responsibility with dignity, deploying his hard-earned resources to sponsor political and elective office holders who hitherto had to run cap-in-hand to some overlords outside Benin Kingdom for sponsorship. In addition, he has positively impacted the lives of many Benins through his philanthropy”.

The group stated that Okunbor changed the Benin narrative by, single-handedly, sponsoring the PDP in Edo South as well as candidates for elective positions.  ”He brought dignity to our people.  He proved his solid loyalty to friendship when in the March 28 presidential election, he galvanized the Binis to vote massively for President Jonathan. He committed his resources and staked his reputation. And, because we the Binis love and appreciate his committed leadership, we followed the direction he showed to us. But we sincerely knew that the game was bound to change after President Jonathan lost the election and conceded defeat to General Muhammadu Buhari.

Captain Okunbor, whose sole objective for dabbling into politics, is not to seek election into any public office, but to promote an agenda for the liberation and transformation of the Benin ethnic nation within the larger politics of the Nigerian nation, had to respond to the changing political dynamics. “With the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC), under the national chairmanship of a Bini son, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, in the presidential election, it would appear that providence has now thrust the Binis, through Chief Oyegun, to the centre of national politics and prominence, which has all the while been the lofty desire of Okunbor; and with an APC government in place in Edo, the synergy becomes easy and complete.

For us, we believe that there was no need to continue to fight a political battle of attrition that would fracture the real essence of his (Captain Hosa Okunbor’s) politics of standing in the gap in Abuja for, and seeking to empower the Binis.  His deliberative and well-considered action of supporting Chief Odigie-Oyegun and the state government to win all the state House of Assembly seats for the Binis on the APC platform aligns with his objective to give the Benin ethnic nation a cosmopolitan outlook in national politics.

Therefore, his role in the April 11 state House of Assembly election does not detract from the fact of his being a true and loyal friend of President Jonathan, neither does it diminish his position as a true leader of the Binis, who is understandably torn between love for his people and party politics”.

Though the Edo PDP Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, has declared that the party will continue to remain a formidable opposition to the ruling APC, the people are anxious to see how they can make it happen.