How PDP, others strategized for today’s polls

Looking worried, he blames the postponement of last Saturday’s elections by INEC due to logistics hiccups as the cause of the trouble that has now invaded their campaign and render their plans of wrestling victory from the grip of opponents determined to unseat his boss futile. Despite his best efforts he was able to source […]

Looking worried, he blames the postponement of last Saturday’s elections by INEC due to logistics hiccups as the cause of the trouble that has now invaded their campaign and render their plans of wrestling victory from the grip of opponents determined to unseat his boss futile. Despite his best efforts he was able to source only N4 million naira out of the N10 million needed by his boss to ensure he puts up a decent fight at the polls today after last week’s disappointment where the postponement led to heavy financial losses for them.

 

“I have to rush back because we need money desperately,” he told Weekly Trust.

They are not the only one faced with this dilemma. Senatorial candidate for CPC in Kwara Central Princess Bilikisu Gambari is already thinking of instituting legal action against INEC for her losses as a result of the postponement of the election from last Saturday to today. Gambari says: “This is gross negligence on the part of INEC and they have to tell me why they should not compensate me, and I will take them to court if they refuse to respond to my demand.”

Princess Gambari has been twice unlucky. In 2007, she contested the same Senate seat on the platform of the then AC but the logo of her party was missing on the ballot paper on Election Day. She went to court and got the elections cancelled whereupon a rerun was scheduled where she was defeated. So now, she does not find the ominous signals sent by INEC recently funny at all.

Candidate’s losses were mostly incurred from money paid to agents to represent them at the polling stations and money paid for logistics. What is talked about in hushed tones though is losses incurred from money paid to voters to guarantee their votes.

ACN’s national spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said his party incurred about one billion naira in tangible and intangible losses, adding that if the over 120, 000 poling units are considered, ACN spent about N400 million for party agents and their logistics alone across the country.

Nevertheless, Mohammed says his party was encouraged by the turn out of people last week, arguing that people had actually come out to vote out the ruling PDP. “We are ever ready, we know Nigerians are also ready, so all hands are on deck to ensure the success of the elections,” he said.

The CPC, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and the National Conscience Party (NCP) also said though they suffered losses, they have put that behind them and are ready for today’s polls. All three parties believed the sacrifice was necessary in the interest of democracy.

National secretary of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Agbo Major, says the party incurred over N35 million losses, mostly on party agents and other logistics, adding that the party is expecting INEC to reimburse them.

Presidential running mate of the NCP, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, also told Weekly Trust on telephone that the party lost a lot of resources, especially moving party agents to the polling units.

It’s not the cash-strapped opposition alone that is in dire straits. The ruling PDP appears to have the biggest concern in the general elections starting today. Unofficial results in some polling units gave indication that the election was not favouring the party. Vice President Namadi Sambo whose North West zone is threatened by General Buhari’s CPC was temporarily relocated to Kaduna early this week where he had series of meetings with stakeholders and ensured that logistics were properly provided.

Shortly after the botched election last week, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali told Weekly Trust that the party was re-strategising. He said: “We are going to re-mobilise and restrategise for the upcoming elections. We will mobilize across all levels of our party to ensure that all our candidates get overwhelming votes during the elections. We are still calling on our party members and supporters not to allow themselves to be dampened by the development that necessitated that rescheduling of dates for all elections.”

As part of the new strategy, President Goodluck Jonathan met with his campaign team on how to salvage the dwindling electoral fortune of the party given the unofficial result that filtered in. Aside from addressing the INEC issue in conjunction with security agencies, the President met on Wednesday with leadership of 40 little known political parties at the Legacy House in Maitama where PDP Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) office is also located.

Sources said the thrust of Wednesday’s meeting was to devise ways to counter disturbing report from the botched National Assembly poll considering reports from the states that the PDP was not performing well in the polls before it was cancelled.

Weekly Trust gathered that the party expressed serious fears that should it lose its dominance in the National Assembly, it could have a damaging effect on the conduct of the presidential election on April 16th. This reason, it was learnt, brought about the idea to woo 40 of the 63 registered parties who were invited to the meeting presided over by PDP Acting National Chairman Dr Bello Haliru Mohammed.

At the moment the PDP controls the federal government and rules in 27 out of the 36 states of the federation. The party also controls both chambers of the national assembly with an overwhelming majority. But the party’s influence has witnessed tremendous decline since departure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Several states and national assembly seats that his regime won for the PDP were upturned by the court. And in recent weeks especially after the party’s primary elections, the ruling party lost several elected officers particularly members of the National Assembly who lost the party’s ticket and decided to look elsewhere for platform.

The postponement has also left INEC with image problems, for once casting doubts on the ability of the commission to conduct transparent polls for Nigerians. But while INEC is left battling with image problems, the postponement also impacted on the psychology of voters, especially in volatile states like Akwa Ibom, Nasarawa and Benue, just to mention a few where voters were quite apprehensive when the news of the postponement first broke.

Already, there were serious concerns about missing logos on ballot papers and inadequate supply or non delivery of materials to thousands of polling units before the postponement was announced. Therefore voters, especially outside Abuja, thought that it was an idea contrived by the ruling party to make people to disperse and give them the chance to rig the election. Hence many voters continued to hang around polling stations until they were really convinced that INEC actually cancelled the elections.

Shortly after the polls were called off, some analysts opined that there could be voter apathy in the rescheduled elections. But those who studied voter enthusiasm during the botched exercise spoke to the contrary, and comments from voters also indicated that today’s polls will record a good turnout.

Beyond the impact of the postponement on INEC and voters, political parties and candidates have been counting loses since Sunday. They were hit the hard way since they had paid their agents and also provided for other logistics. Those who made provision to buy voters also did so ahead for the elections. But the vote sellers have a cause to smile for the second time in less than two weeks, at the expense of desperate buyers.

More seriously, however, soon after the Jega’s broadcast on Saturday last week, the foremost opposition parties, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), raised issues regarding election expenses. Rejecting last Monday date proposed by INEC for the elections to be held, the two parties argued that since banks would not be opened on Election Day, there would be no cash to pay agents.

That may not to be the problem of the ruling PDP. Its major concern seems to be the unofficial results that went to town, indicating that the party was losing effectively. The leadership, thus, returned to drawing board. After all the permutations within the week, the moment of decision has returned today and by midnight, the cloud would have started getting clearer as to the composition of the next National Assembly.

Like the political parties and the candidates, INEC had also gone back to the drawing board after last week’s disappointing start. First, it rescheduled the elections for Monday but after series of meetings with the security council, political parties and other stakeholders, the commission finally came to the realisation that the Monday option was not feasible, which is why it scheduled the election for today. Reports said at a meeting with President Jonathan and security chiefs on Sunday, the INEC chairman offered to resign following hot exchange of words with the National Security Adviser. But the Attorney General and Minister of Justice drew his attention to the fact that resignation at that point would amount to treason and he retreated after the intervention of the President.  Certainly, not a few desperate stakeholders would be happy with the departure of the INEC chairman, but there appears to be no time for that.

After the storm, INEC took stock and rather than waste time talking about a failed vendor, it came up with the idea of shifting the elections for 15 senatorial seats and 48 House of Reps seats to April 26, the same day with governorship and state House of Assembly elections.  That is about 17% of the 460-member National Assembly. Some of those whose elections are to wait until April 26 include Senate President David Mark. In Plateau and Ekiti States, elections will not take place in all the three senatorial districts. According to the INEC chairman, the elections in those constituencies were cancelled because INEC felt it would not guarantee the availability of materials needed before today. Weekly Trust learnt that local printers approached by INEC to make up for the short fall had been sceptical in signing the contract. One of the printers contacted was said to have told INEC that he did not have the capacity to meet up in the few days given to him to print the materials. But a source close to the printer said he actually turned down the work to avoid undue pressure given what happened last week and the sensitive issues surrounding the job.

Having shifted the elections in those areas, INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, said on Thursday during his broadcast that the commission was ready for today’s polls. Every Nigerian is waiting for the result of INEC’s performance today with high expectations.