PDP And APC
By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
Nigerians go to the polls tomorrow to elect new governors for 29 of the 36 states of the country and elect members to the 36 state legislative houses.
Permutations on the outcome of the election for the chief executives have been mainly upset by the outcome of the presidential election two weeks ago which saw the All Progressives Congress, APC win control of the executive arm of the Federal Government.
The development has undoubtedly led to a variance in the factors that have largely influenced elections in the country in the past. One significant variable is the changing mood of security officials who in the past were accused of favouring the ruling party. Now with a new ruling party stepping in, next month, security officers are bound to reconsider orders that are at variance with the line of duty.
Another factor that is also coming into play is the quest by some voters not to align with the opposition, a development that would prove testy in some PDP heartlands such as Katsina, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Kaduna and Delta States.
However, expectations that APC governorship candidates would triumph on the coattails of the Buhari phenomenon would, however, be limited in some deep PDP states like Cross River and Delta where the APC insurgency was late in taking off or is limited by internal dissension.
Tomorrow’s election would also be another opportunity for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to showcase its triumph over the inner demons that sought to smear its case for the use of the card reader. Two weeks ago when about 400 card readers misbehaved, politicians determined to escape the limitations placed on them in inflating the number of voters were quick to induce INEC staff to say that all card readers were not working. Tomorrow, INEC has a responsibility to ensure that the card readers work and that there are no issues.
Voters emboldened by Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s insistence on seeing the results sheets before voting may tomorrow also insist on sighting result sheets before voting, given the reports that some politicians hoarded the result sheets for the purpose of falsifying figures.
After its loss of the presidency and the presidency, top PDP officials have been relatively off the radar. The party’s present leader, President Goodluck Jonathan with his well commended concession of defeat in the presidential election immediately turned into a statesman, a development that has inadvertently limited his room for partisan brinkmanship. The president would also have been sobered by the death on Thursday of his right-hand man, Oronto Douglas. However, ahead of the final battle in Rivers State, where all the president’s problems started from, his wife arrived the state to push the button for her man, Wyesom Wike.
Rivers is only one of about half a dozen states where last minute intrigues are putting this battle in its head. Besides the governorships, the contests for seats in the Houses of Assembly are going to be decisive. For the first time since 2003, it is not likely to be a bandwagon effect where the party that wins the governorship wins almost total control of the legislature. With pitch battles everywhere, the state legislative houses are bound to be pockmarked with signs of opposition in many unlikely political terrains.
Battle Ground States
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