Electoral fireworks will be on display in all 36 states of the Nigerian Federation as electorates go to the polls to elect 28 state governors and legislators in all the 36 states’ houses of Assemblies.
the governorship poll will hold in only 28 states as the eight other states – Osun, Ekiti, Kogi, Bayelsa, Anambra, Edo, Ondo and Imo – have off-season elections.
In states like Lagos, Abia, Oyo, Rivers, Enugu, Benue, Sokoto, Bauchi, Delta, Kano, Kaduna and Plateau, where opposition parties defeated the governing parties in the presidential election, our correspondents gathered that there was an uneasy calm among members of the ruling parties over who would win the governorship poll.
Lagos State, where Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is seeking re-election on the platform of the governing All Progressives Congress remains the most volatile and sought-after, there are fears that the Labour Party’s Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour will give the incumbent a run for his money given the way the LP defeated the APC in the presidential election. Also, Olajide Adediran of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party is also a strong contender for the coveted seat. About 6.21 million voters with permanent voter cards are expected to determine the next governor of the state.
Lagos has been governed by the APC and its forbearers, the Alliance for Democracy, Action Congress and Action Congress of Nigeria since 1999, in addition to being the political base of the party’s presidential candidate and President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. In the presidential election, however, the LP scored 582,454 votes to trump the APC’s 572,606 votes and the PDP’s 75,750 votes.
The APC, in terms of elected officers, maintained an unassailable leadership winning all three senatorial seats, in the House of Representatives election, the LP won three seats, the APC won 20, and the PDP won one seat.
In Oyo State, the race will be between Governor Seyi Makinde of the PDP and Teslim Folarin of the APC, while Adebayo Adelabu of the Accord Party has an outside chance of clinching the coveted seat.
Even though the state is governed by the PDP government, the APC won the presidential election with 449,884 votes against the ruling party’s 182,977 votes and the LP’s 99,110 votes. The APC also won the three senatorial seats and eight out of the 10 Reps seats declared, while the PDP won the remaining two.
There were insinuations that the governor worked for the APC’s victory given the conflict between the five aggrieved PDP governors, himself inclusive, and the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Another very hotbed is Sokoto State, where Governor Aminu Tambuwal’s PDP scored 288,679 votes to narrowly defeat the opposition APC, which scored 285,444 votes during the presidential election, it is expected that the governorship election will be keenly contested between the two parties. Tambuwal will not be on the ballot.
The PDP candidate, Sa’idu Ubandoma, is the immediate past Secretary to the State Government and is said to enjoy the support of another former governor, Attahiru Bafarawa, among others. The APC candidate, Ahmed Sokoto, a former commissioner and ex-deputy governor, was also the governorship candidate of the party in the 2019 election, which he narrowly lost by 342 votes to the incumbent. He also has the support of another former governor of the state, Aliyu Wamakko, among others.
In Ogun State, Governor Dapo Abiodun of the APC is seeking re-election, but Oladipupo Adebutu of the PDP and Niyi Otegbeye of the African Democratic Congress are top contenders. The APC won the presidential election in the state with 341,554 votes, while the PDP scored 123,831 votes and the LP got 85,829 votes.
Ogun State has about 2.68 million registered voters, but 2.27 million PVCs were collected. While Abiodun is favoured to win his re-election, the PDP is also strong in the state, while Otegbeye, who dumped the APC over his displeasure with the way the primary was conducted, also has a chance, especially because he has the support of former governor Ibikunle Amosun.
