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Nigeria’s ruling party emerged victorious in two of the country’s three states that were electing their governors
Nigeria’s ruling party emerged victorious in two of its three states that were electing their governors. These elections are traditionally hotly contested in a country where governors have extensive powers. The elections were held in acrimonious conditions of electoral fraud and violence, which prevented voters from coming out to cast their votes. Despite the deployment of large security forces, several people were shot dead, reports indicate. Compounding the situation, an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) was abducted and his whereabouts are still not known.
The polls were held recently (Saturday) in the central state of Kogi, the southern state of Bayelsa, and the southeastern state of Imo. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s party, the All-Progressives Congress (APC), came out well ahead in Imo State. The incumbent governor Hope Uzodinma was re-elected for a second term with 540,308 votes against 71,503 for his opponent.
Kogi State also repeated the same. The ruling party’s candidate Ahmed Usman Ododo won with over 446,000 votes, while the Social Democratic Party (SDP) came second with 259,000 votes. That does not mean the opposition was decimated. In Bayelsa State, outgoing governor Douye Diri, a member of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), retained his post with 175,196 votes against 110,108 for the APC candidate. In all, the APC governs 20 of the country’s 36 states, against 13 for the PDP. The governors of the other three states come from three other parties. Many say turnouts at the local elections were very low.
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The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) observed the elections and said that turnout had been low at several polling stations. Nigerians refused to come out from the confines of their home for fear of violence. The opposition had complained of delays in putting the results online and technical problems which, it claimed, offered opportunities for electoral fraud.
