The Rice Incident: Is Okpebholo at War with the Church?
By John Mayaki
The APC in Edo State has reduced itself to crisis profiteers in an election for which it is obviously unprepared. After our chairman stood at Ring Road to make a misleading video about the absence of a protest in the state, in a calculated bid to boast to the presidency about a capacity they lack, the party shamelessly shifted to seizing on the chaos that trailed the same protest they claimed didn’t take place.
The focus was on a particular event in which angry protesters stormed a warehouse to cart away bagged rice. Seeking to turn the people against the government and incumbent governor Obaseki, the APC went to town with the news that the rice was a gift from the Federal Government that was hoarded by the governor and denied to the people. However, the deception has since been exposed.
The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Edo State Chapter, Dr. Irekpono Omoike, has clarified that the residence belongs to a private vendor contracted by the association to rebag and support the distribution of food items purchased with the N2 billion donation made by the state government for the ‘Christian Feeding Program’ introduced to alleviate hunger amid the cost of living crisis.
In other words, Okpebholo and members of his party incited the people to attack the church and effectively end the business of a private entrepreneur. This prompts the question of whether Okpebholo is at war with the church; otherwise, why would he orchestrate and seek political profit from the disaster?
The APC is running a campaign without strategy and has filled its ranks with rabble-rousers lacking professionalism, with only instincts for cheap, prebendal politics.
It is 50 days until the election, and the APC and its candidate have yet to produce a single promotional jingle around the candidate’s manifesto on television, radio, or digital media. To begin with, no manifesto has been designed.
The candidate, whose literacy is under question, has boasted about not needing a manifesto – which serves as both a plan and a contract with the people – to solve the state’s problems. This is the sort of claim one would expect from a man whose mind operates like that of feudal lords in the 1800s, not the candidate of a sophisticated party in 2024.
The APC continues to brag about having ‘federal might’ and claims that this is sufficient to rig them into office. Even if this were the case, should it prevent an earnest effort? Why are the people being taken for granted?
Instead of crafting arguments to compensate for the candidate’s incapacity for speech and thought, the APC is hunting for controversies and puerile propaganda to deflect and distract from their inadequacies. They are making the election about the flaws of incumbent governor Obaseki, forgetting that he is not on the ballot.
Unlike our candidate, who cannot face the people, the PDP’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo, has presented himself to Edo electorates as his own man; ready and prepared to build on progress and correct all mistakes. That is the true nature of governance, being a continuum. Whereas Asue has completed and presented a full manifesto, Okpebholo still struggles with a correct sentence in the English Language. Ultimately, this is what will determine the election. No state will or should elect a visionless candidate.
