As predicted, last Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State was tension-soaked. It was fraught with the usual shenanigans that trail every election in Nigeria. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) still displayed its ineptitude, as its officials were alleged to have been involved in different infractions.
It is pertinent to note that my intervention on this page penultimate Monday, being September 16, 2024, was on the three leading candidates for the election. They are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo; the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo; and the Labour Party candidate, Olumide Akpata. Hardly had the newspaper hit the stands when some readers drew my attention to Okpebholo’s profile. I had written that the APC candidate obtained his first degree in agricultural economics from the University of Benin, master’s in public administration from the same university and a PhD in agricultural economics from the University of Ibadan.
“Casmir, Okpebholo did not attend the University of Benin. And he did not have any PhD. Even the degree he claimed to have obtained from the University of Abuja is doubtful,” someone who called to comment on the article said. In the course of my research for the piece, I saw conflicting write-ups on Okpebholo’s profile, especially his academic qualifications. Some say he obtained a degree in public administration from the University of Abuja. Some say he went to the University of Benin where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics. I chose to paraphrase the one published by Vanguard newspapers being a credible medium. Vanguard had recently published the profile of Okpebholo written by Miftaudeen Raji. Titled ‘Edo 2024 guber: Meet Monday Okpebholo, entrepreneur and APC candidate’, the newspaper partly wrote: “Okpebholo’s educational journey has been instrumental in shaping his career trajectory. Following his early schooling in Uromi, he embarked on higher education at the University of Benin. There, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics, laying a solid foundation for his academic pursuits. Driven by a passion for further learning, he pursued a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the same institution. Subsequently, he further honed his expertise by obtaining a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ibadan.”
In the version published by Wikipedia, it was stated, among others, that Okpebholo obtained his senior school certificate in Jos, Plateau State and that “he obtained a degree in Business Administration from the University of Abuja and holds Master’s degree in Policy and Leadership Studies from the same institution.”
In another publication on February 28, 2024 and titled, ‘The CORRECT Profile Summary of Senator Monday Okpebholo (Akpakomiza)’, an online platform, Nairaland, indicated that Okpebholo obtained a degree in Business Administration from the University of Abuja. “He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Policy and Leadership Studies in the same University of Abuja,” it stated.
This is puzzling. The questions are: did Okpebholo attend the University of Benin or University of Abuja? Was his first degree in business administration, public administration or agricultural economics? Did he earn a master’s degree in policy and leadership studies and did he obtain a PhD in any university in Nigeria?
To worsen matters, Okpebholo’s date of birth became a subject of litigation at a magistrates’ court in Abuja. Magistrate Abubakar Mukhtar summoned him to appear before it on September 20, 2024, for allegedly claiming conflicting dates of birth in his nomination forms submitted to INEC. An indigene of Edo State, Honesty Aginbatse, instituted the case. He alleged that Okpebholo claimed he was born on 29 August 1970 in the form he submitted to INEC but another document submitted by him states 29 August 1972 as his date of birth. But when the matter came up last Friday, Magistrate Mukhtar adjourned hearing in the case indefinitely following an order by Justice O.C. Agbaza of the FCT High Court. Agbaza granted leave for Okpebholo to file an application for judicial review of the Magistrate’s criminal summons against him and adjourned the matter until October 28 for hearing.
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While we await the verdict of the court on this issue, it behoves on Okpebholo to put the record straight on his academic qualifications. Silence is not golden in this circumstance. He should shame his detractors by publishing with concrete evidence, his academic and other relevant records.
It is saddening that our democracy has continued to throw up people whose identities or qualifications are enclosed in mystery envelopes. And these are the type of people who eventually emerge victorious at the polls at the expense of more qualified candidates.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari is a typical example. Since 2003 when he started his quest for the Presidency of Nigeria, Buhari never presented any school certificate, though he claimed to have attended a secondary school. His acolytes and media aides robustly defended him and claimed he was well qualified. In 2018, a delegation from the West African Examination Council (WAEC) visited him in the Presidential Villa to present confirmation and attestation of his results to him. The presidency celebrated this visit and made much political capital out of it. Until he left office on May 29, 2023, Buhari’s credentials were still a subject of debate among many Nigerians.
Incumbent President, Bola Tinubu, faced a similar problem. Allegations were rife that he did not attend the Chicago State University which he claimed to have attended. He was alleged to have forged the certificate of the university which he tendered to INEC before the 2023 presidential election. There were other controversies surrounding his background. Tinubu was able to escape all these to become the President of Nigeria.
One major politician who couldn’t sail through with his fake certificate is a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Salisu Buhari. He forged his school certificate and birthday, but later owned up to his forgeries, apologised and resigned in 1999. He was jailed two years with option of fine, but later received presidential pardon and set free.
Will Okpebholo also succeed in his quest to become governor in spite of his identity crisis? As of press time, it was not certain who the governor-elect is. But suffice it to say that the APC is very good at giving Nigerians political ‘bad market’ and going through different crooked routes to foist such candidates on the people. If it can’t get its wish through the ballot boxes or rigging, it tries to get it through the courts.
Other parties are not saints. One way or the other, some major opposition parties like the PDP also try to rig elections. But being the ruling, dominant party, the APC is the worst culprit. In the Edo State governorship election, it was alleged to have also deployed some rigging tactics. There were reports of vote-buying in some parts of the state. Allegations of attempts to change the results of the election were also rife. Some chieftains of the APC denied these allegations though.
For reasons best known to him, the outgoing governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, visited INEC office in Benin on Sunday morning. He reportedly held a closed-door meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC). This infuriated some APC chieftains who stormed the INEC office to protest. Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of Police, Frank Mba, reportedly intervened and ordered the governor out of the place.
To advance our democracy, we need serious political and electoral reforms. So many things have gone wrong and we cannot boast of practising true democracy when we operate a flawed electoral system. Edo governorship election has gone the way of others before it. We will have Ondo state governorship election soon. But have we learnt any lesson? For now, all I can say to the governor-elect of Edo State is congratulations!