By DADA AYOKHAI
Edo State can beat its chest as one of the states in the South-South geo-political zone which gave Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu the highest number of delegate votes at the just concluded APC national presidential convention.
A state-by-state analysis of the total votes garnered by the former Lagos State governor and the National leader of the party shows that Edo State led the pack with 40 votes out of the 54 delegates from the state, while the remaining 14 votes were shared among the other aspirants who participated in the exercise.
From the tally done, Delta State gave Tinubu 30 votes out of the 75 delegates from the state; Bayelsa, Cross River and Akwa Ibom gave him 10 votes respectively, while he got the leanest number of one vote from Rivers State.
In summary, out of the possible 369 delegates’ votes from the zone, Tinubu secured 101 which represents a paltry 27. 37 per cent.
However, the appreciable in-road by the astute politician who said his presidential ambition was a “lifetime ambition” in garnering a huge chunk of Edo State delegate votes can be attributed to the chummy political relationship between him and Comrade Adams Oshiomole, the former APC national chairman.
The former comrade governor was said to have marshalled and swayed the support of the Edo State delegates to ensure the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the presidential flag bearer of the APC at the convention.
Sources disclosed that Comrade Oshiomole is one of the firebrand loyalists of the Tinubu political dynasty and the presidential conversation presented an opportunity to pay back the former Lagos State governor for the latter’s “political support” in how he (Oshiomole) became first, the governor of Edo State and, later, APC national chairman.
