SAN FRANCISCO, December 13, (THEWILL) – The December 5 by-elections conducted in eleven states by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has opened another chapter in the ongoing rivalry between the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The elections took place in nine State House of Assembly constituencies and six Senatorial zones.
The senatorial by-elections were conducted in Bayelsa Central and Bayelsa West; Cross River North; Imo North; Lagos East and Plateau South senatorial districts, while the Assembly polls took place in Nganza state and Bayo state constituencies in Borno state; Obudu state constituent in C/Rivers; Bakura state constituency in Zamfara; Dass state constituency in Bauchi; Katsina state constituency in Katsina; Ibaji state constituency, Kogi and Kosofe II constituency in Lagos state.
Except for Zamfara state, where the results of the House of Assembly by-election State was declared inconclusive by the INEC, the other results showed that the ruling APC won three senatorial seats in Imo, Plateau and Lagos as well as seven House of Assembly seats in Lagos, Kogi, Borno, Katsina and Bauchi States. The PDP won the three senatorial seats in Bayelsa (two) and Cross River and the House of Assembly seat in Enugu State.
INEC had barely finished with the official announcement of the results when both parties raised their ongoing rivalry a notch higher.
Indeed, the Presidency sparked off the politicking with a statement by Presidential spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, on Sunday, December 6. According to Malam Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, the ruling APC remains the chosen party of Nigerians.
“Nigerians, who appreciate the efforts of the administration in making life better for all citizens, especially under an economy facing the severest test from the global Coronavirus pandemic, will not be disappointed.
“We thank them immensely for their trust in the party and government,” he said.
The presidential spokesperson, said, “President Muhammadu Buhari, in particular, is very pleased with the election outcomes, thanked party and leaders, members for working “for this brave and impressionable performance.”
On Tuesday, expectedly, spokesmen of the APC and the PDP took up the fight. First to fire the salvo was the Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yekini Nabena. In a statement, he said the voters had demonstrated national support for the Buhari administration by overwhelmingly voting for the party’s candidate.
“From Imo, Bauchi, Lagos, Plateau and other states, where Saturday’s concurrent legislative by-elections were conducted across the country, the massive electoral victories recorded by the APC are a solid display and pointer that the APC remains the only political party with a true national appeal and acceptance by Nigerians, across geo-political zones and sundry groupings.
“As a governing party, the APC does not take the massive national support for granted. This is indeed a true demonstration that President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC government he leads remains massively popular with Nigerians, despite the warped narrative some opposition partisans try to sell,” he stated.
He said, in line with the yearning and aspirations for inclusiveness, the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee was working to reposition the party by accommodating all interests and ensuring peace, unity, fairness, equity, justice, inclusion and internal democracy in the party.
In its response, the opposition PDP said the claim by the Presidency on Sunday that the ruling party swept the polls, was a diversionary tactic to paper over the failures of the administration’s failures.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said: “Perhaps Mr. President’s handlers ought to have informed him that out of the six senatorial by-elections, the PDP freely swept three in free, fair and credible contests, while the APC only muscled the other three in polls that were marred by manifest irregularities and rigging.
“Moreover, the PDP is in a clear lead in Zamfara where the INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Ibrahim Magatawa, openly betrayed the plot between INEC and APC to allocate votes for the APC and rig the Bakura State Constituency by-election.
“Such resort to rigging by the APC only confirmed its heightened unpopularity given the failures of its administrations, both at federal and state levels, including wrecking our economy and pampering terrorists, bandits and kidnappers who are ravaging our communities and murdering our compatriots in the most vicious manner. “It is indeed appalling that at a time Nigerians expect Mr. President to frontally tackle the escalated insecurity under his incompetent watch, particularly in dealing with the recent massacre in Borno State, he is more interested in praise-singing of a party that has been rejected by Nigerians.”
The APC/PDP renewed rivalry was triggered by the recent defection of Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State and the Senator representing Adamawa South, Elisha Agbo, from the PDP to the APC.
Umahi’s statement that he was leaving because the PDP had been unfair to the interests of the Southeast geo-political zone and Agbo’s contention that his defection was based on lack of inclusiveness in the party portend a crack in the opposition party which the ruling party could exploit to its advantage, even when the defecting governor left with neither the party structure or power brokers in the state. In fact, some of his commissioners resigned in protest and he still has a running battle with stakeholders like former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim and former Governor Sam Egwu.
But the APC celebrated the defections as a sign that the ruling party is now the new bride of politicians, many of whom, it said, would move in droves into it before the general elections in 2023.
On the eve of the by-elections in eleven states, which is three quarters of the state composition of the country, this boost by the APC, was filled with expectations.
Coupled with that was the political implication of the recent pan-Nigeria #EndSARS youth protests against police brutality. For a place like Lagos, where the impact of the protest and its aftermath was powerfully felt, conspiracy theories swirled that a ‘certain political big wig’, from Lagos sponsored the protest to ‘effect regime’ change due to the poor state of the economy and alarming insecurity nationwide that has attracted knocks for the government from Nigerians.
In addition, there was a lingering effect of the fall out of the September 16, Edo state governorship election, which was largely seen as a referendum on the power and influence of APC National Leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his henchman and former National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole.
Governor Godwin Obaseki and his backers, both within the PDP and outside, won the hotly contested election and this was seen as a political setback for Tinubu, even though the October 5 Ondo governorship poll, won overwhelmingly by the APC, stated otherwise.
The by-elections have come and gone but the results showed that the parties have maintained the status quo. Of the six senatorial seats at stake, the two rival parties won three apiece. APC won in Lagos, Plateau and Imo while PDP won the two vacant seats in Bayelsa and the one in Cross River. The states are strongholds of both parties and the margin of defeat and victories shows that.
In Lagos, which has been under the dominance of the APC, the candidate of the APC, Tokunbo Abiru, won the Lagos East senatorial by-election with a total of 89,204 votes to defeat his closest opponent, Babatunde Gbadamosi of the PDP, who scored 11,257 votes.
In Bayelsa state, former Governor Seriake Dickson, who ran on the PDP ticket for the Bayelsa West Senatorial seat, won the election with 115, 257 votes to defeat former Deputy Governor Peremobowei Ebebi, who defected to the APC much earlier and polled 17,541
Also in Bayelsa, Mr Cleopas Moses of the PDP won the Bayelsa Central Senatorial by-election with 120,019 votes to defeat his closest rival, Chief Abel Ebifemowei of the APC who polled 18,947 votes.
In the result for the Cross River Northern Senatorial District, Dr Stephen Odey of the PDP got 129, 207 to defeat Joe Agi of APC, who polled 19,000.
In Plateau state, Prof Nora Daduut, winner of Plateau South Senatorial District, on the platform of the ruling APC, polled 83,151 to PDP’s 70, 838 by Hon George Diaka.
In Imo, events took a dramatic turn after the courts sacked two candidates of the APC, namely, Senator Ifeanyi Araruma and Frank Ibezim on Friday, December 4, and yet, according to the Election Returning Officer, Hakeem Adikum, the APC, won the Imo North bye-election.
He said the APC scored 36, 811 votes, while Emmanuel Okewulonu of the Peoples Democratic Party came second with 31, 903 votes. There is yet to be a candidate, but going by the votes, it can be safely said for now that the APC, the party that has been holding sway there for the past nine years, won.
Thus in Bayelsa, Cross River and Lagos where the ruling parties has been in power since 1999, the overwhelming number of votes cast for their candidates show the extent of their strength and grip on the politics of their domain. In Plateau and Imo where the two rival parties have exchanged political baton, the victory could have gone either way. In Plateau where the PDP, after 16 years in power there was recently succeeded by the APC in the 2019 polls, the margin of victory was slim. There, APC, polled 83,151 to PDP’s 70, 838. It reflects the results of the 2019 governorship polls. According to INEC, on March 11, Governor Lalong scored 583,255 votes while Mr Useni scored 548,336 votes.
So too it was in Imo where the ruling APC is doing its ninth year since the return to democracy in 1999, polling 36, 811 votes, to PDP’s 31, 903 votes.
In all the other elections into state constituencies, the dominant party won with the notable exception of Bauchi state where the opposition, APC won, courtesy of the influence of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, who defected to the APC on August 25, 2020. Dass Constituency is part of Dass/Tafawa-Balewa/Bogoro Federal Constituency, which Mr Dogara has been winning since 2003 as a Representative at the National Assembly.
Even so, the margin of victory showed the fractured nature of politics in the state as in some other states like Imo and Zamfara, where both rival parties still maintain control over constituencies through strong personalities. PDP took that state by default when the Supreme Court had ruled in an intra-party dispute of the APC over illegal conduct of party primaries and voided the election of its governorship candidate.
Zamfara is the only state whose state constituency result is still pending owing to violence. The returning Officer Professor Ibrahim Magawata, told journalists that “the election results of five polling units in Bakura ward have been cancelled”. The affected units, according to Professor Magawata, have a total number of 11,429 votes. The results were declared inconclusive because of violence.
Accordingly, APC won the state constituency seat in its controlled states of Lagos, Katsina, Borno and Kogi, while the PDP also maintained its hold in its enclave of Cross River and Enugu. The margin of victory also showed.
Results from Lagos and Enugu paint this picture vividly. Amaka Ugwueze, the candidate of the PDP, won the Isi-Uzo State Constituency bye-election in Enugu State. She polled 11,041 votes to defeat her close rival, Ejiofor Okwor, candidate of the APC, who polled 2,293 votes.
In Lagos, Mr Sikiru Alebiose of PDP got 2,068, while APC Femi Saheed, got 12,494.
The outcome of the by-election showed no significant shift in the power base and influence of both rival parties, though INEC’s observation on the conduct of by-elections showed little, if, anything has changed in the factors that affect the conduct of elections in the country.
According to the Commission’s National Commissioner and Chairman of its information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, while giving updates on the by-elections on Monday, December 7, said: “The commission regretted that in some areas, electoral officials were assaulted and materials destroyed, while in others there was resistance to the use of the Smart Card Readers. In yet other areas, Commission staff was prevented from deploying altogether.
“In fact, in one area in Lagos State, some people demanded for money from INEC staff before they would be allowed to deploy. These acts continue to reflect poorly on our country and denude the spirited efforts of the Commission to improve the electoral process under very difficult circumstances.”
*** This piece appeared in the print edition with the same headline.
Amos Esele is the Editor of THEWILL Newspaper. He has over two decades of experience on the job.
