2015 and power shift in Nasarawa

The PDP had held sway in that state since 1999. A little consolation however, for the PDP as it was able to contain the rampaging APC to some extent by maintaining its firm grip of the legislative arm with a more than two third majority in the twenty four member state House of Assembly.Analysts however […]

The PDP had held sway in that state since 1999. A little consolation however, for the PDP as it was able to contain the rampaging APC to some extent by maintaining its firm grip of the legislative arm with a more than two third majority in the twenty four member state House of Assembly.
Analysts however remained puzzled by the defeat of incumbent Governor Aliyu Akwe Doma. Similarly, the majority of the votes that gave APC victory over PDP were barely three thousand, so what happened?   However, the historic demystification of the PDP has is now history. The tables may turn again in 2015. The steps so far taking by the party leadership in the state have seen the return of many aggrieved persons, including National Assembly members, to back to the party’s fold.  The PDP will now have to contend with the array of aspirants jostling for the party’s gubernatorial ticket which now seems a sure banker to Government House, Lafia, for who gets it.
One thing that seems clear is the general consensus that power should shift to the Northern Senatorial Zone in the spirit it fairness and brotherhood.   For the PDP to turn the table against APC’s Tanko Al-Makura in the 2015 polls, the party’s candidate must come from the Northern Zone, although analysts are quick to caution that except the party’s candidate emerges through a transparent and credible electoral process, the APC could still have an easy ride, this time to consolidation.
As it is now, by 2015, the two Senatorial Zones i.e. South and West would have held sway as governor for a period of eight years each; thus, the clamour for power shift to the North is germane and requires the support of every apostle of justice and fairness in Nasarawa State. Besides, over the past four Governorship elections held in the state from 1999 to 2011, the Southern and Western Zones enjoyed the unflinching support of the North. Therefore, it’s only natural for the two zones to now rally round the Northern Zone in its quest to clinch the PDP ticket.
Before PDP’s misadventure in the 2011 polls, there was virtually no functional opposition and, if truth must be told, the APC holds its victory to the wrangling in the PDP.  Currently, the PDP has twenty out of the twenty-four member House of Assembly. It would be sheer magic or perhaps miracle for the APC to pose any threat to the repositioned PDP.  What could deal a master stroke on the APC thus preparing it for the undertaker was the mammoth crowd from Nasarawa State that travelled to Minna to welcome President Goodluck Jonathan at a grand rally, where he added to the clamour for change, saying “come May 29th, 2015, the new PDP Governor of Nasarawa State will be sworn in and that would be the anticlimax of today’s event”.

Ambi Akungba Lafia <[email protected]>;