Edo 2020: Early shocker for Oshiomhole, Ize-Iyamu as El-Rufai crashes APC campaign team

The embattled godfather struggling for survival in Edo politics, the ousted national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, and his anointed candidate for the September 19 governorship election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, had suffered early shocker from a prominent member of the APC Campaign Council for the Edo election who abandoned the team from the starting point. The Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, had pulled a string of surprise with his foresight of the integrity question the APC campaign team would encounter in the course of the electioneering campaign. Governor El-Rufai expressed dissatisfaction over the campaign council members appointed by the APC national leadership in Abuja.

Since the commencement of the electioneering campaign for the governorship election in Edo State, the damages caused the APC candidate, Ize-Iyamu,  by the  former chairman, Oshiomhole,  created heavy burden of distrust on the candidate sponsored by Oshiomhole, in the 2016 have created heavy integrity burden for the APC candidate.

Governor El-Rufai saw it coming from the beginning. The Kaduna governor had on a social media platform questioned the appointment of Governor Umar Ganduje of Kano State as chairman of the APC Campaign Council for the Edo election. With seeming reference to some other members of the APC Campaign team, Governor El-Rufai not only dumped the campaign council, he also declared: “I can’t be part of campaign council that is meant to promote EFCC customers. This is against APC anti-corruption mantra.”

Some party stakeholders were of the view that Governor El-Rufai’s withdrawal from the APC campaign squad could crash the team’s potency for effective persuasive credible campaign in the state. They said that the party has lost a remarkable stimulus Governor El-Rufai would have brought into the campaign activities as was witnessed in Kogi State in the election of Governor Yahaya Bello.