By Emmanuel Aziken
One popular political tale that swirled around Abuja late in 2006 as President Olusegun Obasanjo prepared his exit after the collapse of the Third Term Agenda, was how he was exacting retribution.
Despite what many believed to have been Chief Anthony Anenih’s overt support for Third Term, for one reason or the other, ‘Mr. Fix It’ became one of the popular targets for the president’s vengeance.
Odion Ugbesia who was well known as Chief Anenih’s first choice for governor of Edo State in 2007 was willy-nilly, edged out as the president settled on his distant in-law, Senator Oserheimen Osunbor for the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Partly as a consequence, Osunbor and Anenih were to have a bruising fight that culminated in Comrade Adams Oshiomhole ascending to power in 2008.
The introduction of political zoning system into the Nigeria political space was to aid the smooth rotation of political key position across the country. Though this policy is not known in the constitution of the country, the aim is to achieve fairness, peace and equitable distribution of political resource across the various geopolitical zone of the Nation. The phenomena of zoning by political parties are high stake politics in Nigeria’s democracy. This is because zoning is seen as a mechanism of uniting various diverse people while political parties are the vehicle for realizing democracy in Nigeria.
Party politics and zoning/power shift are two very important elements of any liberal democracy that no one can brush aside with a wave of the hand in a primordial state like Nigeria. Political parties serve as veritable tool for which democracy is enhanced. Many Political analysts have described the importance of the political parties in a liberal democracy. Political parties en
[FILE] This photograph taken on September 19, 2020 shows a billboard showing incumbent governor of Edo State and candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Godwin Obaseki and deputy Philip Shaibu during the Edo State governorship elections in Benin City, Midwestern Nigeria, on September 19, 2020. – Hundreds of thousand voters gathered at the polls in Edo State, Midwestern Nigeria to elect a new governor or re-elect the incumbent governor, Godwin Obaseki of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for a second term, the first elections in Africa’s most populous country amidst coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP)
This paper dwells on the balance of power and politics in Edo State with a particular focus on Edo central. The choice of this topic by Edo-Okpa Unity Forum proceeds from the fact that Edo Central Senatorial District has been somewhat excluded from the mainstream of power distribution in Edo State. Perceptually, the power distribution has affected the wellbe