The race for who will succeed Governor Godwin Obaseki at Dennis Osadebay Avenue come November 2024 is steadily heating up as more aspirants declare their intentions to run for the seat of the number one citizen in Edo State.

In less than a year from now, Edolites will be trooping out en masse to elect a new governor who will steer the ship of the state for another four years. The electorates have, therefore, started x-raying the aspirants across various parties and asking questions to see what these aspirants have to offer the good people of the state.

There are so far over 30 aspirants across the three major political parties, namely, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC), and Labour Party (LP). At the time of the report, some of the aspirants had officially declared their intention while some were still in the realm of speculation. Much of that has, however, changed in the past week.

Earlier last week, the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Comrade Philip Shaibu, officially declared his intention “to run for the office of the Governor of Edo State under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the upcoming 2024 election”.

Also in the week, more names that were before now being mentioned in hushed tones became more pronounced.

The name of Senator Monday Okpebholo, has been in the lips of many in the All Progressives Congress (APC) camp and if strong feelers from political circles are anything to go by, the Senator who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Procurement will be vying for the governorship ticket of his party in the state. Also known as ‘Akpakomiza’, Senator Okpebholo is believed to be a grassroots politician and a philanthropist and is speculated to be in the good books of the leadership of the party. His financial war-chest and ability to gather supporters irrespective of party affiliations was said to be largely responsible for the first-time colourful lawmaker’s victory into the Senate, despite the fact that Edo Central is predominantly a PDP-controlled zone.

Another name that has become more pronounced recently is Major General Charles Airhiavbere (rtd.), a former executive director, Finance and Administration, of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), who is also interested in vying for the APC ticket to contest the Edo governorship election next year. Giant billboards of the retired Major General, who was the governorship candidate of the PDP in the 2012 gubernatorial election in state but lost to then incumbent governor, Adams Oshiomhole of Action Congress (AC), dot major junctions in Benin City and other parts of the state.

Speculation is also rife that Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, a name that rings a bell in Edo State politics, is in the game. Pastor Ize-Iyamu, who hails from Edo South Senatorial District, was the APC flag bearer in 2020 against Governor Obaseki of the PDP. In 2016, he was the PDP flag bearer and contested against Obaseki, then of the APC. Sources close to the Senior Pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God said he is awaiting a presidential nod from Aso Rock, owing to his close affinity with President Bola Tinubu, before making his intention known to the public.

Hon Dennis Idahosa, who represents Ovia Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, is also said to be eyeing the APC governorship ticket in 2024. The young lawmaker is a household name as far as politics of his Edo South Senatorial District and the state at large is concerned.

Hon. John Yakubu, a former chairman of Esan Northeast Local Government Council, who was a running mate to Pastor Ize-Iyamu in 2016 on the platform of the PDP, has also joined the fray. He is banking on his records when he held sway as the council chairman to get the PDP ticket.

With the party primaries billed to hold in February 2024, where each of the various political parties is expected to produce a candidate that will fly the flag of the party in the election in September, more declarations by different aspirants are expected in the coming days and weeks.

Following the release of the election timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the PDP has set the ball rolling by releasing its timetable for the Edo gubernatorial election. The timetables of other parties are still be awaited.

Although it is not yet clear which senatorial zone among the three senatorial zones of Edo State – Edo South, Edo Central and Edo North – the pendulum will swing to, stakeholders are clamouring for Edo Central to produce the next governor of the state. They have, therefore, called on the leadership of the 18 registered political parties to zone their tickets to Edo Central in order to ensure equity, fairness and justice.

Edolites are also looking at the direction His Excellency, Governor Godwin Obaseki, will toe as regards who succeeds him, though the rumour mill has it that the governor is backing the Chairman, Board of Directors of Alaghodaro Economic Summit Limited/Gte and CEO of Sterling Bank, Mr. Asue Ighodalo, a thorough-bred lawyer, economist and business leader. The days and weeks ahead will tell.