Borno: Between APC’s 2m votes pledge and PDP’s divided house

In Borno State, the presidential election may be between the confident and solidly on-the-ground APC and the enduringly fragmented PDP

The strong stand of the ruling APC is characterised by the fact that all the elected officers in the state, from the governor to the state legislature members, are in their various capacities on its platform.

So strong, versatile and awesome is the APC that whatever noticeable outing the opposition PDP seems to portray in sections of Maiduguri Metropolis and Borno South does not promise any sufficient strength and wit to snatch any consequential number of votes to deny the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, a landslide victory.

Apart from its solid grip on the political machinery of the state to enable it to decide who gets what at the polls, the APC jubilantly faces a factionalised and, therefore, unsettled PDP that is finding its form a good structure that will fetch something for its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The Zanna Gaddama-led faction of the PDP, which is reportedly recognised by INEC, and the Usman Badeiri-led faction, seem to be heading for the presidential poll without any reconciliation to enable the opposition to garner any substantial votes for its presidential candidate.

The APC, therefore, seems to have solidified its status more than what it was in the 2015 presidential election when it raked a little over 468, 000 votes for its then presidential candidate, while the PDP, which was one quite solid house then, collected 217,000 votes for its presidential candidate, Goodluck Jonathan.

On the excuse that it gave its presidential candidate only 468,000 votes in 2015 because the state, then, was a flashpoint due to the climaxing Boko Haram insurgency, when a substantial population of eligible voters could not obtain their PVCs, the APC, with an assumed restoration of substantial security, seems to be fine-tuning a strategy to do much more for its presidential candidate.

Now, by its division into two factions still slugging it out before a Federal High Court for lawfulness, the opposition PDP seems to have lost its major strength and popularity to warrant its presidential candidate constituting any threat to the presidential candidate of the APC in Borno State.

In the scenario, the ruling APC has promised to scoop two million votes for its presidential candidate, leaving the crumbs of just little over 300,000 for the opposition candidate.

This promise is vis a vis the total number of the registered voters in the state, which according to INEC is 2,315,956, while the total number if PVCs collected as at Thursday, January 31, 2019, is 266,091.

Although the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) was established to help the military in the fight against Boko Haram, there are fears, albeit unjustified, that the APC-controlled government may deploy them to coerce voters to vote according to its preferred pattern.

For now, the topmost campaign issue, which seems the sales point of the APC presidential candidate, President Buhari, is the restoration of substantial security in the Boko Haram-ravaged state. It is assumed that most of the electorate in the state may vote for Buhari’s second tenure as a token of appreciation to him.