By Taye Obateru

The outcome of the National Assembly elections held last Saturday in states that make up the North Central Zone confirmed earlier projections that President Goodluck Jonathan, the candidate of the PDP should have a comfortable lead in this Saturday’s election in the zone.

Although it is said that in politics ‘it is not over until it is over’, which makes projections concerning elections mere guesstimates until actual election has been held and the results known, another adage that the morning presages what the day would look like may well apply in this case as the voting pattern was not too far from projections resulting from a random survey of the views of the electorate in these states. In Kwara, the PDP proved that it still has a solid grip on the electorate winning most of the National Assembly seats. It is expected that the support will be sustained in the presidential election on Saturday.

Kogi state also lived up to projections as the PDP coasted home to victory in most of the constituencies, demonstrating that the PDP candidate should have no problem picking substantial votes from there during the election.

Although the CPC is having a strong showing in Niger State, the absence of election in two senatorial districts in last Saturday’s election makes it difficult to make an accurate prediction of how things would go. However, It is expected that both Buhari and Jonathan will garner reasonable votes in the state.

Benue and Plateau States remain solid grounds for the PDP as shown in last Saturday’s election and Jonathan is expected to garner most of the votes from the two states in the presidential election on Saturday.

As Vanguard predicted in an earlier preview, the rising profile of the CPC in Nasarawa State might make the presidential contest there a neck and neck affair with the PDP. Even if Jonathan eventually beats Buhari of the CPC in the election there, the gap is likely to be close.

Overall, the North Central Zone is likely to be a stronghold of the PDP from where President Jonathan is expected to secure sizeable votes that would determine his chances in the election on Saturday. Except of course, the unexpected happens.