*As the nation is united in grief By Jide Ajani That afternoon, grief was served for lunch. But Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, the man who appears to be doing well with his charm, soothed and consoled the parents of the deceased. Not that he bought their grief with N5million (which was to be given to […]

For the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, and its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, the results of the National Assembly elections simply poured cold water on the supposedly larger than life image that had been created for both the party and its principal. Worse, the presidential election did not produce the type of spark that the party promised – it has won one governorship seat. This is the inside story of how the CPC suffered its first initial set back which haunted it throughout the April elections.

The elections may be over but the politics of 2015 presidential election would shape the new zoning formula in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP – to an extent. In fact, the results from the elections last month have re-created the same politics of old in a new form. However, what would create for possible high combustion is the contestation that would ensue between the North and the South East zone over who succeeds President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. This would create its own problem for the PDP. And in the wake of this, there would be a possible road show by the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, with a view to becoming more national political parties.

This report explores why South-West geo-political zone may not feature prominently in the emerging zoning arrangement of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. With the least number of legislators at the National Assembly, the zone is not solidly positioned to pitch for either the Speaker’s position or those of either the Senate President or Deputy Senate President. This is the emerging reality that leaders of the party in the South-West have to contend with. On a bigger scale, how would the PDP re-arrange its zoning formula to contain the plethora of disparate interests, while not hurting sensibilities in the run up to the 2015 elections.

PRACTICAL governance has started in earnest in the South West hours after Tuesday’s clean sweep of the region by the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN.