In Ogun, where the people will elect a new governor, there will be a fierce battle for the soul of the state with the Action Congress of Nigeria, the Peoples Democratic Party and the Peoples Party of Nigeria in a three-way battle.
In Lagos, the contest is mainly between the incumbent, Governor Babatunde Fashola (ACN) and Dr. Ade Dosunmu of the PDP, while another three-way contest will be staged in Oyo, where Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala (PDP) is battling Senator Abiola Ajimobi (ACN) and a former governor, Senator Rashidi Ladoja.
In the North-West, the governors of Katsina, Zamfara, Jigawa and Kebbi will be struggling to ward off the incursion of the Congress for Progressive Change, which won the presidential poll and several National Assembly seats in the zone.
Although the governorship poll in Bauchi State has been shifted to April 28, the state governor, Alhaji Isa Yuguda, will have an uphill task when he eventually faces the CPC onslaught that day.
The Taraba State governor, Mr. Danbaba Suntai’s main contenders on Tuesday are the CPC candidate, Alhaji Bello Mustpaha and Senator Joel Akanya of the ACN.
The PDP is currently controlling Ogun and Oyo, while the ACN governors are in Lagos, Ekiti and Osun states.
But Tuesday’s governorship election will not be held in Osun and Ekiti states, and Ondo, where Governor Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party holds sway.
There will also be tough contests in the North-Central states of Nasarawa and Benue, where the PDP governors face major challenges from the CPC and the ACN candidates respectively.
South-West
In the South-West, the ACN candidates defeated incumbent PDP senators and the House of Representatives members on April 9, 2011. But in the presidential poll a week later, the electorate in the zone voted for the PDP presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan. The PDP will be looking for a repeat of its victory in the April 16, 2011 presidential poll on Tuesday.
Ogun
The three major contenders in Tuesday’s governorship election are the candidate of the PDP, Chief Adetunji Olurin, his counterpart in ACN, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and that of the Peoples Party of Nigeria, Mr. Gboyega Isiaka.
The ACN won many of the NASS seats on April 9, but the table turned in the April 16 presidential poll, which the PDP won. The PPN candidate was formerly in the PDP. He defected to the PPN as a result of the crisis in the ruling party. Isiaka is being supported by the state governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, while Olurin has the backing of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The odds favour Amosun and Olurin in the poll. There are indications that the Yewa/Awori people may vote for Olurin.
Oyo
In Oyo State, the three leading governorship candidates are Alao-Akala (PDP), Ajimobi (ACN) and Ladoja of the Accord Party.
The governorship race is expected to be keen among these three candidates because their parties performed neck and neck in the NASS election.
While the PDP won five House of Representatives seats, the ACN and AP won four each. The ACN won two senatorial seats, while the PDP won one.
Alao-Akala, being the incumbent, is expected to use all the government machinery to actualise his ambition. But Ajimobi enjoys the support of many of the Ibadan elite. So pronounced is his acceptance among the elite that some elders of Ibadanland, under the auspices of the Ibadan Elders’ Forum, publicly endorsed him for the governorship race at a news conference on Thursday.
The two other contestants are no doubt being threatened by the rising profile of Ladoja’s hitherto relatively unknown AP in the state. Ladoja, a former governor, seems very confident that he will win the governorship election, hence his rejection of the various pleas from some people of the state that he stepped down for Ajimobi as a way of sacking “their common enemy,” Alao-Akala.
North-West
Since the beginning of the general elections on April 9, 2011, the CPC has been recording successes in the North-Central.
In the presidential poll, its candidate, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), defeated President Goodluck Jonathan in the zone. If the party repeats the feat on Tuesday, the incumbent governors, many of whom are PDP candidates, should be ready to write their handover notes.
Kastina
In Katsina State, the test of strength in Tuesday’s governorship election will be between the CPC and the PDP.
The PDP, led by the governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shema, will try to reverse the losses it suffered in the last two elections, where the CPC made massive inroads into the traditional stronghold of the PDP.
The CPC had cleared the three senatorial seats and 12 out of 15 House of Representatives in the poll.
But the Court of Appeal ruling on Wednesday that recognised a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Bello Masari, as the CPC governorship candidate for the election, had further complicated the political calculation and heightened the uncertainty.
Senator Yakubu Lado had all along been positioned as the CPC candidate in the state.
If the election holds at all in the stronghold of the CPC in the Funtua and Daura areas, it might witness a low turn-out because of the fear of violence. There is anxiety that there may be clashes between the rival factions of the CPC and PDP supporters.
Zamfara
In Zamfara State, Governor Aliyu Shinkafi will slug it out with the CPC governorship candidate, Alhaji Muktar Lugga, whose party has made inroads into the state.
However, Governor Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State will have to wait till April 28 to know whether he will return to the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House on May 29 because of the post-election violence that occurred during the week in the state. He is facing the CPC challenge.
North-East: Bauchi
Though the governorship election in the state has been postponed to April 28, the incumbent governor will face a tough battle when the poll is held. Despite the crisis that has engulfed the state in the last few days as a result of last Saturday’s presidential election, the supporters of the major political parties in the state are warming up towards ensuring victory for their candidates in the governorship election coming up on April 28, 2011.
The major contenders, who have been making an impact on the electorate in the race for the Government House are the incumbent, Yuguda (PDP); Mr. Nuhu Gidado of the CPC, Senator Baba Tella (ACN) and Senator Nazif Gamawa of the All Nigeria Peoples Party.
On Wednesday, the Federal High Court in the state finally cleared the coast for the candidate of the CPC, whose emergence in the primaries was being contested by another candidate. With its victory in the presidential poll in the state, the CPC is confident that its candidate will win the governorship poll.
Yuguda, whom people believed could use the power of incumbency to get a second term, is currently having many problems to contend with.
Apart from the current security concern, feelers in the state show that the governor, who won the governorship election under the umbrella of the ANPP in 2007 before defecting to the PDP, is obviously not the preferred candidate of the people.
What would have probably given him an edge is the love of the non-natives, but this may no longer count as a majority of them have travelled to their states for safety reasons, while others who are staying back have promised not to participate in the election.
North-Central
In some states in the North-Central, the governorship poll will mainly be between the ACN and PDP. However, in Nasarawa State, the PDP and CPC will slug it out.
Benue
The governorship contest in Benue State is a straight fight between the incumbent governor, Gabriel Suswam, and the ACN candidate, Prof. Steve Ugbah. Suswam is battling for second tenure as governor under the PDP umbrella.
The ACN candidate – Ugbah – is a professor of communication from the University of Ohio, USA. Within a short period of joining the ACN and being drafted into the position of the governorship candidate of the party by its leader in the state, Dr. George Akume, and a former Senate President, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, he has endeared himself to a segment of the Benue society, which has come under the banner of his party.
The candidate of the ANPP, Prof. Daniel Saror, is not seen as a threat to the incumbent governor of the state. His presence in the race can make little or no impact because of the weakness of his party in the state. The indications are rife from previous elections that the fight is a straight one between the PDP and ACN.
Nasarawa
In Nasarawa State, the governorship election will be a straight fight between the incumbent governor, Alhaji Akwe Doma and the CPC candidate, Alhaji Al-Makura, who joined the party from the PDP.
Kwara
The major contenders of the governorship seat of Kwara State are the candidates of the PDP, Alhaji AbdulFatai Ahmed; Allied Congress Party of Nigeria candidate, Senator Gbemisola Saraki; and Mr. Dele Belgore (SAN) of the ACN. Also, the candidate of Democratic Peoples Party, Mr. Gbenga Olawepo, is another hopeful contender.
Ahmed, the PDP candidate, was a Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development and later Commissioner for Ministry for Planning and Economic Development in the state. Owing to much clamour for a leadership shift from Ilorin (Kwara Central), to another area in the state, Ahmed, who is from Ifelodun Local Government, Kwara South senatorial district, is highly-favoured, even by the incumbent governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki.
With the state power behind and formidable PDP and even its National Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, behind Ahmed, certainly is a force to be reckoned with in the battle for the soul of governing in Kwara.
Another strong contender is Gbemisola Saraki of the ACPN. She is endorsed by Kwara’s political godfather, and Senate Leader of the Second Republic, Chief Olusola Saraki. To make the ambition of his daughter a reality as the next governor after his son, Bukola, Saraki had to defect from the PDP to the ACPN.
Given that Saraki has been a political rallying point for over 40 years and with the support of the masses, Gbemisola presents a formidable force in the contest for the Kwara State Government House. But the ACN candidate, with a strong machinery of his party, is capable of giving a good fight for the governorship seat of Kwara.
South-South: Rivers
The governorship race in Rivers State is between the incumbent, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi of the PDP and Dr. Abiye Sekibo of the ACN. Though the immediate past governor of the state, Mr. Celestine Omehia, is running on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, his chances are very slim.
But that is no to say that race between Amaechi and Sekibo will be a tough one. While the incumbent governor has called on the electorate to rate him based on his performance within the past three-and-a-half years, the ACN candidate believes Amaechi has not done enough to deserve a second term.
On Tuesday, the PDP in Rivers stands a better chance to retain the governorship position in the state. Considering the outcome of the NASS and presidential elections, it will be difficult for the ACN and APGA to upset the PDP.
What is also going for the ruling party in the state is its structure, which is unequalled by the ACN and APGA. That Sekibo and Omehia are men that can command votes from the electorate, but the planks on which they stand for election are weak.
Akwa Ibom
Since the beginning of the 2011 elections, the PDP’s performance in Akwa Ibom has been impressive. It recorded an overwhelming victory in the NASS and presidential polls. It is therefore expected that its governorship candidate, Godswill Akpabio, will have no problem. The growing popularity of the ACN candidate, Senator John Akpanudoedehe, is a threat to the governor’s ambition.
Delta
Another focal point in Tuesday’s governorship election is Delta State. The contest will be among the incumbent governor and PDP candidate, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan; the DPP candidate, Chief Great Ogboru and their counterpart in the ACN, Chief Omo-Agege.
South-East
In the South-East, the PDP, APGA and ACN will battle for the soul of the zone.
Imo
The Imo State governor, Mr. Ikedi Ohakim, must have been having sleepless nights to ward off the onslaught of the APGA governorship candidate, Chief Rochas Okorocha and Senator Ifeanyi Ararume of the ACN. There will be a fierce contest as the people of the state go to the polls on Tuesday.
Abia
The state governor, Mr. Theodore Orji, whose party, the PDP, has been trouncing other parties, will face the challenge of the ACN candidate, Prince Ikonne and Mr. Regina Ufomba of APGA. The Progressive Peoples Alliance candidate, Dr. Chris Akomas, is another strong candidate.
By Niyi Odebode, Abuja, Olamilekan Lartey, Katsina, Chukwudi Akasike, Port Harcourt, Sunday Ojeme, Bauchi, Francis Falola, Abeokuta, Success Nwogu, Ilorin, Olalekan Adetayo, Ibadan and Fidelis Soriwei
Courtesy Of: Punch
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