Olusegun Olanrewaju
Saturday’s gubernatorial and state houses of assembly elections are fast proving to be a battle for strength in the 29 states of the federation where the poll will be conducted.

As the various political parties are strengthening their respective positions, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has assured Nigerians that the body is well-prepared to deliver on its mandate of delivering quality polls.

Governorship elections will not take place in Edo, Bayelsa, Osun, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, and Ondo states where the incumbents still have time to wind down.

In the states, high-level consultations have reached peak levels among those either hoping to retain their seats or bowing out from the office.

Some states, principal of which include the likes of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, and Borno will be parading governors seeking re-election.

Also, some governors will be leaving the government, especially after completing their stewardship, such Rivers, Delta, Enugu, Abia, and Benue, among others.

Many of the governors have been engaging in serious activities, including horse trading to woo the electorate to their side.

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In the heat of the preparations, it appears that the Labour Party (LP), given its impressive performance in the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections, has become the ‘beautiful bride’ of some governors.

For example, in Lagos where perhaps the biggest shock was recorded against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last elections by the LP, the sitting governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has been meeting with big unions and groups, including the Arewa and Igbo communities (Ohanaeze), with the ultimate aim of securing endorsement ahead of the polls.

Interestingly, another opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), whose flag is being flown by Abdul-Azeez Adeniran (Jandor), has been meeting with different groups to shore up his profile.

Before now, the governorship contest had been a direct fight between the ruling APC and the main opposition PDP. However, the political space has been altered to include the LP, whose standard bearer is Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour. The outcome of the presidential elections showed that the LP could spring a surprise as the party won the state during the February 25 presidential election.

According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), no fewer than 16 political parties will be contesting for the number one slot in Lagos State, while 394 candidates will be jostling for 40 state constituencies.

In Oyo, Governor Seyi Makinde, who is seeking reelection, has stepped up his alliance, but the outcome of the presidential/national assembly polls on February 25 may have caused some hindrances as the APC presidential candidate scored 449,884, while his PDP rival, Atiku Abubakar polled 182,977. The APC won the three senatorial seats in Oyo State and the majority of the House of Representatives seats. Governor Makinde will be slugging it out with the candidate of APC, Senator Teslim Folarin.

In Ogun State, Governor Dapo Abiodun of the APC, who is seeking reelection while slugging it out with the candidates of the PDP and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Oladipupo Adebutu and Biyi Otegbeye respectively.

While high-level stakeholder consultations are currently ongoing among the three critical contestants and various groups, pundits are of the view that the ruling party, APC, might have an edge having won the three senatorial and nine House of Representatives seats during the February 25 polls.

The same scenario is replicating in Delta State where the APC candidate, Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, is running for the governorship seat. His major contender, who is the flagbearer of the PDP, Sherriff Oborevwori, has the strong support of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa. The state had hitherto been a strong PDP base but the outcome of the February 25 elections where the PDP only won one senatorial seat, with the APC winning two, may have again altered the political permutations. It is going to be a tough fight for the once-strong PDP base as various groups have shown interest in both candidates.

In Rivers State, the state Governor, Nyesom Wike, who is rounding off his second term, has been campaigning vigorously for the PDP candidate, Simi Fubara. A lot of horse-trading has taken place in the last week. Other party candidates have also intensified moves to clinch the number one slot.

In Benue, Kaduna, Bornu, Kwara, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Plateau, Kano, Katsina, and Sokoto states, among others, candidates of the various political parties have upped their ante.

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*INEC: We’re working towards hitch-free governorship elections

Ahead of the election proper, INEC has assured that it is working towards ensuring a hitch-free governorship election.  

To this end, the commission has said it will punish its officials, whether ad-hoc or collation personnel, who may have been involved in disrupting the conduct of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

The commission also admitted that last week’s national elections raised several issues that require immediate, medium, and long-term solutions.

It noted that while the planning for the election was painstakingly done, its implementation came with challenges, some of them unforeseen.

Speaking yesterday, INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, stated in Abuja at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs): “As we approach the Governorship and State Assembly elections, we must work harder to overcome the challenges experienced in the last election. Nothing else will be acceptable to Nigerians.

“All staff found to be negligent, whether they are regular or ad hoc officials, including Collation and Returning Officers, must not be involved in forthcoming elections. RECs must also immediately initiate disciplinary action where prima facie evidence of wrongdoing has been established.”

The INEC chairman also told the RECs that of immediate concern to the commission is how the identified challenges could be addressed ahead of the concluding phase of the general election involving the largest number of constituencies, that is, the 28 state governorship elections and 993 State Houses of Assembly seats.

He said the issues of logistics, election technology, the behaviour of some election personnel at different levels, and the attitude of some party agents and supporters added to the extremely challenging environment in which elections are usually held in Nigeria.

“We appreciate the sacrifice and doggedness of Nigerians and the dignity and maturity displayed by political leaders even in the context of divergent views about the election. A lot of lessons have been learnt.”

He said that arising from the penultimate Saturday’s election, the commission received reports from its state offices, as well as complaints and petitions from political parties and candidates.

According to him, where infractions of any kind are proven, there will be redress.

Yakubu added that any action taken by the commission is without prejudice to the rights of parties and candidates to seek further remedy as provided by law.

He directed the RECs that Election Day logistics must be finalised days before the election and handled by the Electoral Officers EOs at the local government level.

“This has been our standard practice. Centralising the process as was done in some States resulted in a delayed deployment of personnel and materials and late commencement of polls.

“RECs will be held responsible for any tardy arrangement or the failure to deploy electric power generators to collation centres or polling units where such facilities are needed. The Commission has enough facilities in all the states of the federation. Failure to deploy them is simply inexcusable,” he declared.

Yakubu also stated that refresher training must be conducted for ad hoc staff, who participated in the last election, adding that when they are replaced for good reason, they must be properly trained so that processes are not delayed or compromised at any stage.

On Election Day technology, Yakubu added that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would once again be deployed for voter accreditation and result management.

He added that the deployment of BVAS has gone a long way to sanitise voter accreditation as could be seen from the result of recent elections.

“Since last week, the Commission has intensified the review of the technology to ensure that glitches experienced, particularly, with the upload of results are rectified. We are confident that going forward the system will run optimally,” he said.

Commenting on the Presidential and National Assembly elections on February 25, former National Commissioner of the INEC, Prof. Lai Olurode, said the attack on INEC as far as the conduct of the 2023 presidential and national assembly elections is concerned, was unwarranted. 

According to him, INEC has done its best in this circumstance, adding that no matter what the electoral body has put in place, the existing infrastructure deficit will not make the commissions best to count so much.

Noting that all elections have their challenges and Nigeria’s elections cannot be an exception, Olurode said lessons must have been learnt during the last elections. He said: “Perhaps, we could have had a different outcome if the opposition parties didn’t fail to reach a formidable consensus.

While expressing reservations on how much technology should be deployed in the nation’s elections, he said there should not be an overdose of election technology, because, according to him, “if it fails, it is going to create its problem.”