THE election in Delta State tomorrow is a test for politicians as Nigerians look forward to the elections in April. There is no doubt the Court of Appeal found grounds to annul the governorship election of 14 April 2007.

What will never be resolved is why the elections to the State House of Assembly, held on the same day, stood, while the ruling stated the governorship election did not hold.  One can see that as one of the wonders of Nigerian politics, or the amorphous nature of the Electoral Act.

In Nigerian politics, many things are possible. Politicians have taken this axiom to the extreme. They can do anything in the name of politics and claim it is Nigerian. Flashes of their ingenuity cannot escape even the most perfunctory assessment.

Nigeria is already straining from religious disturbances in Jos, Bauchi and Maiduguri. These conflicts also have high political contents. Party primaries are resulting in deaths, destructions and disruptions. If intra-party elections throw up this amount of commotion, what will happen in inter-party elections?

Tomorrow’s election will answer the question on a small scale. The election already suffers some of the flaws of past elections. The first of these is on the voters register. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, last year accepted that random investigation of the voters list revealed fictitious names.

The same register will be used as INEC could not produce a new one. The expectation had been high that INEC would compile a new voters register within the three months time constraint it had to conduct the re run election.

As it is, any voter who cannot produce a card from the registration conducted four years ago stands disqualified. Voters who have attained the age of 18 since the previous registration are excluded. Yet, judging from crowds at rallies, enthusiasm is high but it remains for them to be translated to votes.

Top candidates are Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, who the Court of Appeal annulled his election last November, Chief Great Ogboru at whose instance the court cancelled the 2007 election and Ovie Omo-Agege.

Forecasts are some form of trouble. The politicians are acting out these parts. Everyone wants to win an election.

It has not taken too long for people to realise only business in town is politics, better still in executive capacity for the occupant of the office will determine how to dispense or disperse resources.

Delta State holds great attractions in this regard. It is among the top four revenue earners from oil. Its monthly allocation from the federation account hardly goes below N5billion. Contestants each promise to manage the resources better.

An understanding that peace is critical to progress should inform the attitude of all in this contest. Above all, the contestants and INEC must ensure that at the end of the day, the will of the people of Delta state triumphs.