- By Kamil Opeyemi, Halimah Olamide and David Orji
All eyes are on the three states of Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo today as residents go out to vote in the off-circle governorship elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The three states are those outside the usual seasonal exercise in the country apart from Edo, Ekiti and Osun whose times are also off circle.
Off-circle election states are those who by virtue of previous electoral situations leading to judgments of courts, governors were removed for the validly elected ones to take over, hence the difference in the times their elections are conducted.
Prominent among parties fielding candidates in today’s elections are the All Progressive Congress which is the ruling party at the central government, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, the Labour Party and Social Democratic Party especially in Kogi state.
In Bayelsa, the contest will be mostly in between the incumbent Governor Douyi Diri of the PDP who faces a tough challenge from former Governor and former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva. This is despite the fact that there are 16 candidates in all with the candidate of the Labour Party Eradiri Udengmobofa also showing some signs of strength.
In Kogi, the fight is between ruling party’s anointed Ahmed Ododo and the candidate of the PDP, Senator Dino Melaye. A third candidate, Muritala Yakubu Ajaka, a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, left the party to join the SDP and has created some ripples in the build up to today’s election. Majorly, there have been clashes between his supporters and those of the APC in the state.
Born on the 13th of February, 1978, Ajaka hails from Igalamela/Odolu local government area.
In Imo state, the battle is between incumbent Governor Hope Uzodinma who is running for a second term and the PDP’s Samuel Anyawu. The candidate of the Labour Party, usually called “One Armed General” Athan Achonu.
Achonu had won a senatorial seat in 2015 on the platform of the PDP only for his election to be nullified. He had crossed to the Labour Party and relies on the strength of the party’s showing in the last general election to make some impact.
Achonu is a victim of the civil war in Nigeria in 1970 during which his hand was amputated. He is 64 years.
Across the three states, APC candidates face the challenge of explaining to the residents the impact of the ruling APC government at the centre which has been accused of not managing the economy of the country properly.
With the RENEWED HOPE agenda of the party when coming to power, many Nigerians have expressed lack of confidence in the government at the centre creating additional burdens for the party’s candidates to assure voters.
Candidates of the Labour Party and the PDP have left nothing to chances to use the prevailing economic situation to campaign against the ruling party.
Already, the INEC says it is ready for today’s exercises in all the three states just as it expressed concerns over the security situations.