Wither Not The APC: After Edo, The Challenges Ahead

By – Tunde Fadipe

The outcome and result of the just concluded Edo State governorship election are not unexpected to me; I have similarly predicted what might be the outcome in my article titled; Oshiomhole: Edo Election and Kwara Square Play.

In that article, I drew inferences from the character, personality and utterances of Adams Oshiomhole to warn the leaders of the progressives in Kwara State to be wary of “digging the enemy’s grave too deep”. The fact is that you actually don’t know who might fall into it, life and politics are heterogeneously dynamic.

A keen political observer can deduce that the just concluded Edo State governorship election is just a repeat of the 2016 election with the team changing sides just like the second half of a soccer game.

Oshiomhole in his own wisdom in 2016 verbally destroyed his enemy not knowing the same enemy will be his striker in 2020. It’s only FIFA that will never allow players to be bought in the middle of a game; in politics, it’s allowed for the players to change shirt and start playing for the other team.

I really don’t understand why Adams Oshiomhole will believe that Edo people will buy Pastor Ize-Iyamu in 2020 after calling him unprintable names in 2016. There should be a limit to political hostility.

There’s also an allegation that some Governors and party stalwarts are working against the party from within. It will be sad if this is true. The name of Fayemi, Ameachi and El-Rufai is being mentioned. They said the game is about stopping Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in his 2023 project, this may be correct but we need to remind ourselves of the story of Almighty PDP.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) acquired power and grew to the level of invincibility before the bad eggs willfully worked against the party for their personal interest in 2015 to deliver the Aso Rock to APC. Those who kicked against PDP from the inside then and joined APC to demolish their party are today’s political orphans who were stripped of their political strength by their association with APC. Saraki, Atiku, Kwankwaso and Dino may look like a good example.

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Thus, if internal accomplices are involved in the defeat of APC in Edo, they should be careful and watchful. Political parties will always die and regenerate but a political traitor may actually never have the opportunity to regenerate.

Those who are leading the APC at the State and National levels must understand the power in investing in young people. We still have people in PDP today because the party invested in youths when they were in national power. The movers and shakers of PDP today are the young people that were earlier groomed. Empowering the Septuagenarians and Octagerians ahead of young and active ages will subsequently boomerang. You don’t use old men to prosecute young people’s war. Experience is good and can be easily transmitted but vigour and strength are irreplaceable.

The ruling APC’s national economic policies must be duly communicated to the masses. They must understand why the government needs to take certain decisions. There must be deeper communication between the government and the masses. The popularity of APC is gradually reducing on the street. The prices of rice and garri “layman” economic analysis of the PDP is penetrating the consciousness of the people. We need to watch it!

Wither not APC! The Edo State election is finally gone but the game is not over. There’s a possibility of our party getting the mandate from the court. This will depend greatly on how our lawyers will argue the case of the certificate and double nominations in court, but I tell you that the chances are slim on the two fronts, especially, the double nominations that never was.

The APC should avoid the shrinking effect that depreciated the PDP before the 2015 general elections. All hands must be on deck to win Ondo to avoid the shrinking of the party due to the bandwagon effect. Bandwagon does happen in an election where people will vote a party out without any cogent reason and just because it has become fun to do so.

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