By Emeka Alex Duru
The governorship and assembly election, slated for Saturday, March 9, is not ordinary, in the simple sense of the word. There is rather more to the exercise. It provides another opportunity for the two leading political parties – the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to test the extent of their acceptance among the people.
At the February 23 presidential and National Assembly poll, the APC came out tops, with President Muhammadu Buhari, achieving re-election over Atiku Abubakar of the PDP. Buhari was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with a little over 15 million votes, against Atiku’s over 11 million. The PDP is contesting the outcome and has declared its intentions at seeking redress in the courts.
The Saturday state election, will thus, provide basis for the two parties to make their points on the presidential poll. It may also see some less prominent parties recording some upsets.
APC needs victory in the states to prove that its triumph over PDP on February 23, was not a fluke but an indication of its acceptance at the local level. Chalking in more states will also count in its attempt at widening the scope of territories under its column. This perhaps, accounts for the party not dwelling much on the celebration of its victory at the presidential poll but rather making more incursions into areas that had been traditionally seen as PDP states.
This is where the Monday, March 4 visit of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, to Delta and Akwa Ibom remains instructive. To underscore the importance of the two states to APC strategic considerations, Osinbajo was reported to have remarked that the two should not be opposition states but should key into the progressive ideology of the APC. He added that the two have more potential and could actualize them if they vote for candidates of the party.
The emphasis on Delta and Akwa Ibom by the APC, is not entirely strange to informed observers. Over time, chieftains of the party, even when it functioned as Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) before the fusion with others to form the current APC, had always angled for the two states. On such occasions however, they had failed in their attempts as PDP had held on to the two states. But with the APC at the centre and buoyed by defection of some of the PDP members in the states to its fold, its audacity in going for the states, has increased.
In Akwa Ibom, the defection of erstwhile governor, Godswill Akpabio, ex-NNDC managing director, Nsima Ekere (APC governorship candidate), has given immense boost to its adventure. Incidentally, Akpabio’s Senate re-election agenda on February 23, has been hanging on the balance. Initial results tended to favour his opponent and erstwhile deputy governor, Chris Ekpenyong, as the winner. He has however asked the court to put the recognition of Ekpenyong on hold, arguing that the result was not a true reflection of what transpired at the poll.
The Saturday election, is therefore, an opportunity to prove that the former governor is still relevant in the politics of the state. This is especially as he had on his defection to APC, pledged to deliver the state to the party.
Governor Udom Emmanuel, the PDP candidate, however needs victory at the poll to announce to Akpabio, his former godfather, that he has come of age and is now, a man of his own. For him, the election is a matter of survival for his self-preservation and continuous existence of the PDP in the state.
The same factors of ego and relevance resonate in Delta. Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta Central), former Governor Uduaghan and Festus Keyamo, Buhari Campaign Media Coordinator, are expected to use the election to convince their colleagues in APC that they are popular in the state. But for Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, it is another test of popularity and a confirmation of his touted developmental projects by the people.
Rivers State also falls into this basket. Though the APC has no candidate for the poll (on account of the annulment of its governorship primary by the courts), it is not unmindful of the outcome. There are even insinuations that it is doing everything possible to stop the governor, Nyesom Wike from going for re-election. A court judgement on his eligibility for the election, on account of alleged age falsification, is slated for Friday, March 8, a day before the election. If it goes against the governor, it will be a huge loss for the PDP. Wike is however fighting back, vigorously.
In Oyo, where APC narrowly lost to PDP at the presidential election, the party is putting up great efforts to reverse the outcome with the governorship election. For PDP, a win, would amount to consolidation of its hold on the state. It is also the case in Ondo, Adamawa, Benue, Plateau and other states that APC had held sway. APC will need outright victory to prove that its outing in Lagos, Kwara, Kaduna, Borno, Katsina, Nasarawa and others, was real.
For PDP, consolidation on its traditional spheres of influence and incursion into newer territories, will give vent to its allegation that the February 23 poll was rigged in favour of Buhari. For now, the party seems to be dazed by the outcome of the exercise and has not been fully out to campaign for its governorship candidates in the states. How far this will go in reversing its fortunes, will be seen on Saturday.
