Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and the All Progressives Congress need an urgent miracle from Jesus to flip the Edo governorship election their way, with results from 16 out of 18 local governments now tabulated.
Since Ize-Iyamu is a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, he can bend down on his knees and ask for God’s favour.
But his prayer is too late as incumbent governor, Godwin Obaseki has cantered home to victory, awaiting a formal declaration by INEC.
With results of 16 out of the 18 local councils already declared, he has scored 281,851 votes as against 202,525 scored by Ize-Iyamu.
Obaseki from P.M.News calculation holds a comfortable lead of 79, 326 votes.
He has certainly won his re-election, leaving Ize-Iyamu, APC and Adams Oshiomhole in misery.
Obaseki, also, has made his political match against Ize-Iyamu 2-0.
Both candidates ran against each other four years ago. The little known Obaseki prevailed then as APC candidate, with Oshiomhole as his main campaigner.
Four years after, the candidates traded places.
Obaseki, denied a second term ticket, ran to the PDP, which Ize-Iyamu had abandoned for APC.
Obaseki joined the PDP, taking a faction of APC with him, to build a coalition, a political fusion, the type that the APC built in 2014 to trounce Goodluck Jonathan.
With the additional financial support from South South governors, Obaseki actually had a mismatch race with Ize-Iyamu, especially with reports that majority of APC governors did not support his opponent’s campaign, financially.
The PDP candidate built up his majority votes beating the APC and its candidate overwhelmingly in the capital Benin and environs.
His campaign that he was trying to extricate himself from the stranglehold of a godfather appeared to have become the religion in this area. The people’s animus against godfatherism showed in the enthusiasm with which Obaseki, the ‘David’ was received at his polling station in Benin on Saturday.
Obaseki also won almost all the local councils in Esan land, while he snatched votes in Edo North, making sure he was not overrun from there.
As things are, INEC will soon formally declare Obaseki as the winner of the election for another four year-term.
And Adams Oshiomhole, more than Ize-Iyamu will go into political oblivion in the next four years.
