Re-run gov election: Ganduje, Ortom, Lalong battle for their lives
The governorship elections which were held in 29 states of the country on March 9 were declared inconclusive in six states according to the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and had to be rescheduled. Gov Samuel Ortom The states are Kano, Sokoto, Bauchi, Plateau, Benue and Adamawa. INEC had fixed today for the supplementary elections in the affected states excluding Adamawa following court injunctions.
For about two weeks, the two parties that are front runners in the governorship race, the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, embarked on intensive campaigns trying to woo the electorate deploying all manners of arsenals. Roads were hurriedly being constructed, bore holes were being dug while truck load of gift items surfaced in areas where the re-run elections will hold. INEC committee denies Bauchi APC fair hearing – Nana The governors in these states are seeking re-election and they are ready to throw everything into the race in order not to be humiliated. It is therefore a fight for their political life as they face the electorate again today in areas where the result of the earlier election was cancelled. Plateau: APC, PDP confident of victory By Marie-Therese Nanlong Jos – Residents of Plateau State were always apprehensive whenever an election was conducted in the state following violence that usually trailed such exercise leading to loss of lives and property.
Many of them, especially those living in volatile areas of the state were not very comfortable participating in elections to avoid being maimed or even killed during the process. However, with improved security and increased awareness on voting, most residents turned out to participate in the February, 23rd Presidential and National Assembly elections. Two weeks after, the apathy returned as the low turnout for the Governorship and House of Assembly elections held on the 9th of March became worrisome even to politicians; Some of them who expressed concern said they could not understand the reason for the low turnout of voters across the 17 local government areas of the State. Speaking on the issue, a former Deputy Governor of the State, Dame Pauline Tallen told journalists at her house in Shendam local government area that she had to personally inquire from the Mai Angwas (Ward Heads) the reason for the apathy and they told her that “there has not been water supply in Shendam for a long time, women went in search of water for house chores.”
Most respondents who expressed diverse opinions attributed the apathy to many factors as one of them, Donald Luka said, “the apathy was due to the inability of the electoral officials and desperate politicians to allow the ordinary man’s vote to count especially for those of us in Jos North/Bassa federal constituency. “The people who willingly came out to vote and their votes were tampered with were discouraged to come out and vote again during the supplementary election which was held on the 9th of March. If our votes did not count the first time, what is the assurance that we would not be robbed again in the second election?” Miapsuk Madugu, a public affairs analyst who x-rayed the 2019 elections highlighted issues like acrimonious campaigns, tribalism/religion, apathy towards collection of PVCs, poor voter education, vote buying/rigging, militarization of election, among others as factors that marred the process and called for urgent review of the electoral laws. His words, “The 2019 elections provided Nigerians the chance to make an impact through their votes, but as the 2019 general elections gathered momentum; an air of uncertainty ominously hung in the air, the discerning electorate were still looking forward to issue-based campaigns as is the practice in advanced climes. “As our politicians embarked on the political campaigns, rather than telling the electorate their agenda, they (politicians) were busy engaging in personality clashes.
Few months to the polls, the political arena became increasingly acrimonious. The campaigns were characterized by division, blackmail and bitterness among party supporters, especially on social media platforms. “While the 2019 general elections were meant to serve as an avenue to elect good people to lead us, we sacrificed competence on the altar of mediocrity, ethnicity and religion. We refused to ask questions about the candidates with a clear vision who would champion the much needed transformation of the country. We forgot to look for the people who would turn our socio-economic fortunes for the better. No Bauchi re-run without T/Balewa result, PDP writes INEC “Contrary to expectations, the initial postponement of the poll by INEC few hours to its commencement did not deter the voters, they came out to vote. However, many Nigerians said the outcome of the polls dashed their hopes because it did not truly reflect their wishes.
Sadly, this negatively affected the voters’ turnout during the governorship and state house of assembly elections. Many were discouraged from voting again, leading to widespread apathy. “Again, because politicians and their political parties were busy with campaigns of blackmail against one another, public awareness about their party logos, manifestoes as well as their candidates contesting in the various elections were not given the pride of place. Hence, the electorate knew next to nothing about the over 90 political parties and their candidates. These reflected in the high numbers of rejected or cancelled votes recorded during the elections.” He added that another disturbing issue about the elections which should concern Nigerians was “the delayed announcement of results. According to him, “Prior to the polls, there were incidents of people induced with material things and money which cut across all political parties.
There were alleged cases of people selling their PVCs for N10,000 while others were induced with packets of Maggi and salt, just to mention few.” Despite the apparent apathy during the March 9 election, the figures churned out at the collation centre for the governorship election were intimidating as they were higher than those recorded during the Presidential election which had massive turnout of voters. Ganduje All is now set for the governorship rerun as the two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress, APC and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP involved in the race have tied all loose ends in anticipation of clinching the seat at the end of the day. On the part of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the electoral umpire had been busy putting its house in order to ensure early takeoff and a smooth exercise and not leaving anything to chance, while the collaboration with security agencies has been strengthened for a hitch-free supplementary election. Although the two contending parties have claimed the affected areas for the supplementary election as their strongholds, they have not taken anything for granted as they court the electorate for their votes.
Taking into consideration, the earlier results announced by INEC which saw the APC candidate, Governor Simon Lalong leading with 44,929 votes and the number of cancelled votes standing at 49,377, the PDP had more work to do to overturn the table but pundits doubt if such feat could be achieved going by the intensive manner the ruling party APC went about seeking the less than 4,000 votes needed to coast to victory. Reports had it that the APC supporters had invaded Mangu, (the local government area of the incumbent Deputy Governor, Sonni Tyoden and the PDP’s Useni’s running mate, James Dalok) which has the highest number of cancelled votes of 25,035, campaigning but the PDP has accused its rival of buying votes with gifts which they alleged were shared to electorate in the affected areas. As it is, the APC has 583,255, the PDP polled 538,326 and despite the margin, Senator Jeremiah Useni, the PDP governorship candidate who kept promising the people of serving a single tenure in office believed he could still emerge victorious, cautioning that he would not accept any form of rigging. Polls: FG orders closure of land borders in Adamawa, Benue, Sokoto According to him,
“As the flag bearer of our party, I did not expect an inconclusive conclusion; the Plateau PDP State Campaign Council, stakeholders and all supporters of the PDP worked very hard for an outright win; The results released by INEC showed that PDP maintained very good scores across all the LGAs; this is in spite of the widespread thumb printing, vote-buying and outright intimidation by some security men who had absolutely no business with the election. “In one instance, I personally went out to Tudun Wada Collation Center and freed voters who were made to lie down on the ground by some Security men; Civil servants and our traditional rulers were threatened to either deliver to APC or lose their jobs or be dethroned; votes were simply allocated to APC or bought with large sums of money; In some places PDP supporters were not allowed to vote, or their votes were torn to pieces. “The card readers were not used in many polling units while in some units they were reported even stolen, results were declared without any regard to the choices of the people who voted; elections have never been this bad in Nigeria in general and in Plateau State in particular. It is no wonder that we are having a re-run for nine local government areas in the State.
“I salute the people of Plateau for their brave stance for democracy; I promised the people of Plateau that I would stand by them and protect their votes; I also cautioned that I would not accept rigging. Today, I still stand by my words; I cannot turn my back now when we are coasting home to victory. My candidature is aimed at restoring our lost glory as a people and state. “I want to assure the people of Plateau that I am still very much in the race, and I will lead in the most responsible manner;
I want to assure the People that I will only spend one tenure of four years, because I believe it is not a matter of how long you stay in office but how much you can do within a short time; I therefore call on our stakeholders and supporters to stand taller and even stronger than before as we approach the supplementary election.” As the supplementary election takes place today, the question on everyone’s lips is which of the two major political parties will carry the day. The two parties are confident of victory and their supporters are all over the social media accusing one another of unscrupulous acts aimed at winning the election. Bauchi: Incumbent faces herculean task Vanguard
