2015 polls: Some teasers in parallax

This fact is acknowledged by all major religions the world over, be such Christianity or Islam or any other faith. Yet it is a travesty that such a conviction does not always guide the considerations of those that are inclined to play God in the affairs of men.The build up to the forthcoming polls which […]

This fact is acknowledged by all major religions the world over, be such Christianity or Islam or any other faith. Yet it is a travesty that such a conviction does not always guide the considerations of those that are inclined to play God in the affairs of men.
The build up to the forthcoming polls which commence by this weekend has demonstrated the mixed fortunes associated with attempts by some of our political actors to display their good, bad and ugly sides. Expectedly, their acts of commission and omission have yielded equally remarkable reactions that regardless of who wins any office, the political space will remain enriched with interesting developments, which not only qualify as welcome teasers to the polls kick off, but will define the course and character of politics in Nigeria, here after. Following are a few of such scenarios.
APC and GMB: One of the most remarkable outcomes for which 2015 polls will be remembered is the unprecedented emergence of a central political opposition front – the All Progressives Congress (APC). Consolidated from legacy opposition parties, its advent has launched on the Nigerian political space, so much effervescence that most traditional electoral permutations at all tiers of governance were upturned. Thanks to the APC, certain redoubtable clichés in our political lexicon such as ‘landslide victory’, ‘carry-go’ and ‘100 per cent delivery’ have started losing currency.
As for its presidential candidate General Muhamadu Buhari (GMB), his current enterprise on the electoral campaign turf reveals a new side of him which was benign during his earlier ventures in politics as the presidential candidate of the ANPP in 2007 and CPC in 2011. Whether he wins the presidential election or not, Nigerians will not forget in a hurry the charm and drama that his role as the candidate of the unified opposition has endowed the political turf with.
Within the space of a few months Buhari’s public profile has transformed from that of a serial presidential candidate of less than dominant political parties, to the veritable icon of the first ever consolidated opposition in Nigeria. What a treat to see him in different Nigerian traditional attires as he campaigned round the country, along with the international outing at the British Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London, to give the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), an unprecedented run for its money.
GEJ and PDP: In comparison with past Nigerian presidents, the achievements of incumbent Goodluck Jonathan easily qualify as sterling. Coming into office under circumstances that could not have been other than divinely ordained, his tenure has been marked with audacious salvoes into the nation’s cauldron of crises. However, in the build-up to the polls, a complement of bizzare developments in his ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) virtually threatened to blight out the silver lining of his legacies.
Goaded by the historic hegemony the party had wielded over the country since 1999 at the  inception of the present democratic order, and the unfounded expectation to rule (not lead) this country for the next 60 years, the hawks in the party are only realizing rather late in the day that Nigerian politics is no more business as usual. This accounts for the last minute acts of desperation by some of its officials for whom the outcome of the polls may not seem as predictable as expected.However given its largely self-inflicted harvest of headaches in virtually all its state chapters, it is hoped that the party has not shot itself in the foot too fatally, to affect its fortunes in the polls.
National Assembly: As the apex organ of the nation’s legislature, the fortunes of the National Assembly in the forthcoming polls demand more interest than may be casually realised. While it may be traditional to focus attention on whose side the presidential and gubernatorial electoral pendulums may swing, the outcomes of voting for seats in the legislature comprising the National Assembly and the 36 State Houses of Assembly are as significant as can be.
Up for grabs are an estimated field of over 1,300 legislative offices to which fresh incumbents are to be elected in the forthcoming polls. These exclude the executive offices of the President and State Governors, but include the Senators, Members of the House of Representatives and the Houses of Assembly of the36 states of the federation.
Between 1999 and 2014 much of these political offices at both the federal and state levels were controlled by the ruling PDP.  While it is not out place for some party members to expect a repeat performance in the forthcoming polls, the actuality may be a cocktail of painful surprises for them. The situation will be most acute if the ruling PDP fails to retain its traditional control of the Presidency as well as the Senate and the House of Representatives. Expectedly, ceding the control of even one of these power centres by the PDP to the opposition APC, will change the face of politics in Nigeria.
INEC and PVC: Without any iota of doubt, the most significant revelation of the 2015 polls is the advent of the Permanent Voters Card (PVC).Interestingly the PVC is introduced to guarantee the credibility and verifiability of among other factors, the identity of the voter, being the perennially missing element in the nation’s electoral culture. Yet since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced its adoption for the polls, there have been a flurry of plots, schemes and spins by some of the most unexpected groups and individuals,including religious leaders, to scuttle the use of the PVC. The fear of the PVC and the card reader has become the beginning of wisdom for these traditional election riggers, who are ill at ease over its advent. Rather than hide their faces in shame, they are clamoring under one guise or the other against it. After all if electronic smart cards can be used successfully for banking, conduct of school examinations and other daily purposes, why not for voting?
In their hunger for a sacrificial lamb, some unrepentant Nigerians who still live in the past are picking on INEC Chairman Professor Attahiru Jega, who has equally called their bluff to the admiration of the wider cross section of Nigerians. This as if without Jega INEC will degenerate to denying Nigerians the advantages of the PVC and card readers.Thanks however to the tenacity of Jega and his team in INEC the polls will be conducted with the PVC and the card reader.
Clearly the foregoing scenarios hardly capture the entire complement of twists and turns in the build up to the polls. This is especially so if some others like the postponement of the polls are taken into consideration.
Nevertheless, happy voting, Nigeria.