Lagos – Voters in southwestern Nigeria’s Ekiti state will go to the polls on Saturday to elect a new governor in what could be a bellwether for who wins next year’s presidential election.
Ekiti is among eight of Nigeria’s 36 states where governorship elections are not being held at the same time as the rest of the country because of legal challenges to previous results.
It is also considered a swing state, key to winning presidential elections in the multi-ethnic West African country of some 200 million people.
Although 16 parties are on Saturday’s ballot paper in Ekiti, it is seen as a three-horse race between Biodun Oyebanji of the ruling APC, Bisi Kolawole of PDP and Segun Oni of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
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President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress came to power in 2015 and his victory after three unsuccessful bids was in part the result of the southwest’s support.
The 79-year-old will be stepping down after completing his two terms in office allowed by the constitution.
Two political veterans are vying to replace him – ex-Lagos governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC and former vice president Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) – as well as other candidates.
Africa’s most populous nation is scheduled to hold its presidential election on February 25, 2023.
Analysts say the emergence of Tinubu as the APC’s presidential flagbearer has upped the stakes and changed the permutations in the Ekiti election.
Test for Tinubu
“Tinubu, a Muslim from the zone will see winning Ekiti as the first turf to test his popularity and electability in the February presidential race,” said Lagos State University political science lecturer Dapo Thomas.
“Tinubu will do everything humanly possible to ensure victory for Oyebanji,” he said.
On the final day of campaigning Friday, Tinubu joined other leading members of the party to show support for Oyebanji.
But the two other frontrunners should not be written off, Thomas warned.
“Both Kolawole of PDP and SDP’s Oni are political juggernauts with grassroots support. Kolawole has the backing of a powerful former governor while Oni has been a former governor himself.”
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Incumbent governor Kayode Fayemi of the APC, who is stepping down, is backing Oyebanji, his former aide.
According to Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the state has 988 923 registered voters but only 733,746 have so far collected their voter cards.
Police said they had deployed more than 17 000 personnel to ensure a trouble-free vote.
Nigeria has a long history of electoral violence and malpractice and has recently been battling a spate of security challenges.
The last governorship vote in Ekiti in 2018 was marred by violence and claims of electoral fraud.
On Wednesday, the candidates signed a peace accord, vowing to avoid violence and accept the outcome of the vote.
Next month, a governorship election will take place in neighbouring Osun state.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Pexels
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