Ehichioya Ezomon
The question isn’t, who did the attack, but who plotted and sponsored it? Aftermath of the deadly assault, Okpebholo’s legislative aide in charge of media and communication, Godswill Inegbe, allegedly fingered a former chieftain of the APC (names withheld) as leading the ambush to take out Okpebholo or Shaibu, or both in one fell swoop.
But the politician – who, as he’d resigned from the APC, predicted a “political tsunami” that he’s leading, and thereafter decamped to the PDP – denied involvement in the attack, claiming he’s out of Benin City during the incident, and that the allegation was to tarnish his image as a law-abiding citizen, who’d not engage in political violence.
Contrarily, can the Obaseki government, which instigated the impeachment of Shaibu – and had obtained a stay of execution of the Federal High Court order restoring Shaibuto his office – exonerate, and extricate itself from the attack on Okpebholo and Shaibu?
Rather than display shock over the attack, and extend sympathy and empathy to the victims, the Obasekigovernment was after Shaibu, claiming that in his bid to return to office, as mandated by the Abuja court, he’s going about attacking residents and destroying property in Benin City.
In a statement on July 18, the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, alleged that Shaibu-led thugs had unleashed mayhem on innocent citizens “in the guise of enforcing the judgment reinstating him to office.”
“We want to reiterate that Shaibu will face the consequences of violence he has resorted to in pursuit of his aim to return to the Government House even when he is aware that a stay of execution of the judgement has been filed,” Nehikhare said.
(It’s trite that simply filing of an application for a stay of execution can’t vitiate a declarative judgment that has immediate force of law until the court applied/appealed to hears and grants the application.
As per Felix Osemwengie Isere, Esq., “The mere fact that Edo State House of Assembly or the Attorney General of Edo State has applied to a stay of execution of the judgement reinstating the former deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, does not stop the enforcement. It is only after the application has been heard and granted that the judgment can be enforced. What this means in a simpler term is that Philip Shaibu is the legally recognised deputy governor of Edo State today by law except the application for a stay of execution pending appeal they have filed and parading is granted by the court.)
Nehikhare advised the residents to remain calm and go about their lawful businesses, as the government had embarked on restoring peace to the state capital, with reports indicating that security had been beefed up at the premises of replacement Deputy Governor GodwinsOmobayo, at Osadebey Avenue, Benin City, to forestall any (counter) attack on him.
It’s worthwhile to recall a viral video featuring an Edo PDP top-shot and a director in the Ighodalo campaign organisation, making brazen and incendiary claims that the PDP would resort to beating up opposition members if they didn’t join the party, declaring that, “Who no wan hear, go kpeme” (die).
According to an APC supporter that reposted the video lately, “tragically, someone did ‘kpeme’ (die) yesterday (July 18) — none other than the Orderly of the gubernatorial candidate (of the APC).”
Did the Obaseki government and PDP condemn that flaming video and call the party chieftain to order? What about ‘post-the inevitable’ happening; has the government and PDP deplored the attack on Okpebholo and Shaibu? Has PDP’s candidate Ighodalo criticised the assault, and commiserated with especially Okpebholo, his competitor and kinsman from Esan Central of Edo State?
In closing, let’s recall the United States President Joe Biden’s admonition in the wake of the July 13 failed assassination of former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate in the Tuesday, November 5, 2024, General Election.
In his remarks in an address to the nation on July 14, an assailed Biden – fending off calls by concerned Democrats to drop his reelection bid after his poor debate performance with Trump – said: “Yesterday’s shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania calls on all of us to take a step back, take stock of where we are, how we go forward from here.
“My fellow Americans, I want to speak to you tonight about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics and to remember, while we may disagree, we are not enemies. We’re neighbours. We’re friends, co-workers, citizens. And, most importantly, we are fellow Americans. And we must stand together.
“Tonight, I want to speak to what we do know: A former president was shot. An American citizen killed while simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing.
“We cannot – we must not go down this road in America. We debate and disagree. We compare and contrast the character of the candidates, the records, the issues, the agenda, the vision for America.
“But in America, we resolve our differences at the ballot box. You know, that’s how we do it, at the ballot box, not with bullets. The power to change America should always rest in the hands of the people, not in the hands of a would-be assassin.
“You know, the path forward through competing visions of the campaign should always be resolved peacefully, not through acts of violence.”
Biden’s caution should resonate, and guide the campaigns for the governorship election in Edo State on September 21. Similar to what happened in Pennsylvania, a governorship candidate (Okpebholo) was shot at in Edo State on July 18. A Nigerian citizen (Inspector Onu) killed while simply performing his duty of a confidential assistant to Okpebholo, and several persons injured.
This is not who we’re, or should be. Let the gladiators in the Edo governorship lower the temperature in our politics and remember that, while they may disagree, they’re not enemies, they’re all Edolites, and Nigerians. They should settle their political differences at the ballot and not with bullets, and allow Edo voters to exercise their franchise on Election Day to decide who their Governor should be!
