The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has released an analysis on how voters in Saturday’s re-run elections would choose the contesting governors mostly of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The CDD Director, Idayat Hassan, said this in the preliminary report of the centre ahead of the re-run elections.
According to her, the general impression from their observers and through media monitoring was that political tempo has heightened in the affected States, with politicians making unbecoming and provocative statements that may trigger violence in the lead-up and during the elections.
She said that Benue state is to be watched closely as both the APC and PDP have raised an alarm over irregularities, alleging the use of militia in army uniform to intimidate voters during the supplementary election.
She said the PDP in the state has deployed its senior party stalwarts to serve as poll agents, possibly to counter any form of manipulations, and that the Benue Youth Forum (BYF) has alleged the mobilization of armed thugs from Kogi State to disrupt the process.
In Kano, according to the report, the state governor and the APC has alleged that a PDP chieftain paid thousands of ‘yan tauri’ (hunters), mobilised to cause havoc during the rerun election.
The APC says the aim of mobilizing these ‘hunters’ is to subdue the security agencies and oppress their party supporters.
“In Plateau, Governor Dalung, who is in the clear lead has raised security concerns as the state heads for supplementary election, attributing the killing of about 82 and rustling of about 30 cows as ‘politically motivated’, which may have a backlash effect, resulting in the farmers-herdsmen crisis.
“In Sokoto, where the incumbent Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of the PDP leads Alhaji Aliyu Ahmed of the APC with 3,468 votes in the inconclusive election, there is a fifty-fifty chance of any of the two candidates emerging as the winner. The lead margin was lower than the 75,403 votes cancelled in 136 polling units in 22 local government areas of the state.
“The political gladiators in the State are mobilising for their respective candidates ahead of the supplementary election across the 22 LGAs. The political parties, by all means, will play any role to secure victory for their party. In this case, Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko who won his re-election under the APC and orchestrated a big win for the APC in the State is a factor one need to look out for in the supplementary election, while the likes of Attahiru Bafarwa cannot be underestimated in his calculation to get the incumbent secure the ticket,” she said.
She added that in Bauchi, the late decision by INEC to go ahead with governorship rerun except in Tafawa Balewa is causing some concern and that the state would still have to wait for the courts to determine the Tafawa Balewa case before they can declare the governorship resula
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