Ben Peters, Abuja
The recent elevation of Prof. Julius Ihonbvere as the Majority Leader of the 10th House of Representatives represents a major political coup against his opponents in the race.
The announcement of the elevation of the Owan-born academician and politician as the Majority Leader by the House Speaker, Rt. Hon. Abbas Yusuf brought a fitting end to the composition of the principal officers of the 10th Assembly.
Before then, political pundits did not give the honourable member representing the Owan federal constituency any chance of grabbing the available coveted positions.
Hon. Peter Akpatason, of the Akoko Edo federal constituency and a fourth-term member of the House, was heavily tipped to click any of the top positions zoned to the South-South ahead of any other contender.
In addition, Hon. Akpatason a veteran unionist enjoys the backing of the former comrade governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomole.
During the APC primaries and campaign leading to the election, he was very boastful about his chances and told whoever cared to listen that his fourth-term bid was anchored on the guarantee that he would get a direct shot at either the Deputy Speaker’s job or, at least, the position of the majority leader.
All the permutations by political pundits which placed Hon. Akpatason on the edge and placed him ahead of the other contenders in the run-up to the last batch of appointment of the House principal officers soon evaporated.
The former unionist lost out completely. Even the Deputy Majority Leader position that he once occupied in the 9th Assembly also eluded him. Neither the Deputy Speaker position nor the Majority Leader seat came his way. Instead, his colleague and kinsman, Prof. Ihonbvere, edged him out and clinched the coveted position.
Our reporter investigations revealed that what worked against Hon. Akpatason in the race for the top positions in the House can be attributed to his arrogance and clinging too much to the apron strings of the former comrade governor, hoping the latter would pull all the strings in his favour.
The majority of those who spoke with our reporter asserted that arrogance and complacency cost the Akoko Edo-born trade unionist the plum post.
They recall that after he won the election to represent the Akoko Edo federal constituency, courtesy of Comrade Adams Oshiomole, Hon. Akpatason has lost considerable political influence in his political domain and even in the Edo North district.
A good example was the loss of the two assembly seats in Akoko Edo to the ruling PDP during the March 18 state Assembly election.
Prof. Ihonbvere, a second-term member of the House, has a likable personality
coupled with his ability to reach out and build bridges of friendship across party affiliations enabled him to secure the plum post ahead of his kinsman .
The overreliance of Hon. Akpatason on the now Sen. Oshiomole as well as his arrogance seem to have cast some doubts in the minds of many. He also failed to interact with his fellow lawmakers, a very costly mistake to do in such a circumstance
Even members of his constituency are rejoicing at his defeat.
Their joy is simply borne out of the fact that his victory would have made him too powerful to confront in the next party primaries.
They also contended that there is nothing tangible to show for the 12 years of stay in the House.
On the whole, political pundits believe that the Edo North district gained the most.
