Buharism: Remember, I Belong To Nobody But To The… -Buhari
In the process of time, just Four years ago, yes, just four years ago,President Mohammadu Buhari and Governor Godwin Obaseki were the best of political friends.
Nothing, so it seemed, could separate them. Adams Oshiomhole was then governor of Edo State, while Godwin Obaseki was his chief economic adviser. Oshiomhole was about completing his two-term tenure of eight years and had tapped Obaseki as his successor. His political family, which considered and still considers Obaseki an outsider, was not happy with their leader’s decision. They told him that he would regret his action with time. Their fear has been justified.
Today, Oshiomhole and Obaseki have parted way. In 2016, the elements were well mixed in Obaseki that Oshiomhole was raising his hand as “our governorship candidate”, four years later the reverse is the case. Oshiomhole’s once ‘beautiful bride’ has become the unwanted ‘woman’ of the house.
In a state where Oshiomhole saw the back of godfathers who he derided at every opportunity for ruining the state, will he not be accused of treading that path, some people wondered then. To Oshiomhole, who is now national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), that was not godfatherism in the sense of that much abused word. He explained that it was a political calculation to ensure that he did not leave the state in the hands of bandits. Then who is a godfather? Is he the one who picks a competent person for a job? Or is he the one who installs a puppet that will do his bidding?
These posers arise today because Obaseki, who four years ago, saw Oshiomhole as his God sent chaperone, now refers to him derisively as a ‘godfather’ who wants to control the purse string of the state. Political godfatherism is perceived in bad light because from what the people saw in the past it is all about helping a neophyte into office in order to have access to the treasury. Where the godson refuses to act the script, he is dealt with. Is this what happened in the Oshiomhole-Obaseki scenario?
Obaseki and his loyalists allege that, that is the case, but Oshiomhole and his supporters deny the claim. Obaseki, they alleged, has distanced himself from party members who worked for his victory in 2016. By refusing to give them their dues, he may be sounding the death knell of the party, they warnved, calling for urgent action to prevent that from happening. Theirs is not the first and certainly, it would not be the last of such feuds between godfathers and their godsons.
With the duo going their separate way, the stage is set for a mother of all political battles. The bell for the first round has just gone, with Obaseki disqualified from seeking a ticket for his reelection on APC’s platform. The same Obaseki who Oshiomhole praised to high heavens in 2016 is now a pariah within the ruling party. The governor himself knew that picking a second term ticket in APC would amount to a camel passing through the eye of a needle. This was why he fought tooth and nail to get Oshiomhole out of the way long before the whistle was blown for the Edo governorship race.
He got Oshiomhole suspended in his ward, barred him from coming to the state without first seeking permission and demanded an apology from him over a violence which resulted in the loss of lives. The governor also rebuffed all peace entreaties from within and outside the party. Try as much as President Muhammadu Buhari did, he could not settle the rift because Obaseki was not prepared to yield ground. All he wanted was to cut his party chairman to size. Obaseki thought that with the enormous resources at his disposal, he could bring heaven down. That he could not tame Oshiomhole was not for want of trying. The governor threw eveything he had into the battle, but Oshiomhole was always many steps ahead of him.
With the aid of some of his fellow governors, one or two ministers and the late Chief of Staff Abba Kyari, he rattled Oshiomhole, but he could not achieve his heart desire to oust his predecessor as party chairman. Now, he is at the receiving end and he is running from pillar to post in order to get a second term ticket. On Friday, APC shut its doors against him when the screening committee disqualified him from contesting its primary billed for June 22. He tried to drag the Presidency into his reelection bid. After collecting his expression of interest and nomination forms at the party secretariat in Abuja on June 1, he ran to the Villa for a photo shoot with the President. The picture made the front pages of some papers the next day. He did not achieve what he wanted to achieve with that picture. The screening panel was not impressed and he was disqualified.
He had forgotten Buhari’s statement during the President’s first inauguration on May 29, 2015: “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody”. If Obaseki had done an introspection, he would have known that Buhari minds his own business when it comes to such matters. The best the President offers those who run to him with their election problem is the best of luck. Yet, as Obaseki runs all over the place shopping for a platform on which to seek a second term ticket, he has not weaned himself of the Buhari mentality. He will, he says, decide on his next line of action after meeting with the President. He met with the President on Tuesday and told reporters after the meeting that he has defected from APC. It is believed that he will join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The screening committee also queried Obaseki’s credentials and left the matter at that. But the appèal panel, which reviewed his screening, noted that he swore to an affidavit that he graduated from the University of Ibadan (UI) in 1976, but attached a certificate which bears 1979 to his nomination form.
Could he have gained admission into UI with three credits and a Higher School (Leaving) Certificate, HS(L)C? Is there a certificate so called? Higher School Certificate (HSC), the academic world knows, but HS(L)C, many will say is not known to them. Did APC not know of all these before giving Obaseki its ticket in 2016? If it did, why did it clear him to run then? The answer is simple: he was a good boy then. The whip was applied four years later because he stopped being a good boy.
The UI, which last week authenticated the governor’s 1979 certificate, still needs to shed more light on this matter. Is Obaseki’s controversial 1976 certificate also from the school? Did he meet the institution’s entry requirements before he was admitted? UI cannot afford to keep silent now because it is the only one that can unravel this certificate puzzle. Institutions, which pride themselves in honouring only students found worthy in learning and character, should be seen to live up to those attributes too; otherwise they will lose their moral authority.
Has APC’s four-year silence on Obaseki’s papers not made it an accessory to the fact? It does, but trust politicians, they will explain it away thus: “in this game, there is no permanent friend, but only permanent interest”. As long as politicians live by this maxim, cases like Obaseki’s will abound.
