PDP’s Strategic Edge in Kwara and APC’s Federal Game-plan
By Ridwan Omooba
With only seven days until the first balloting takes place in Nigeria’s general elections, political actors across the nation are gearing up for the polls. In Kwara State, the two major political parties, the APC, which is remotely controlled by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Lagos, and the PDP, led by the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, have amped up their campaign activities in the past month, however, there is a significant difference in their styles.
Over the past month, the PDP and its leaders, which include the sitting Governor of the State, Abdulfatah Ahmed who is fondly referred to as ‘Maigida’; the gubernatorial candidate of the party, Honourable Razak Atunwa, whose moniker is ‘One’; and the Senate President, Saraki, who is known as ‘Oloye’, have embarked on ward-to-ward campaigns across the length and breadth of the state.
The PDP and its leaders have visibly and deliberately been knocking on the doors of their supporters and utilising their pre-existing political structural advantages to let the people of Kwara know that the 2019 election is a battle for the soul of the state. This is because, as highlighted in earlier parts of this piece, the APC in Kwara has shown that it has set plans in place to allow the state and its commonwealth be annexed by the ‘Lords of Lagos.’
While the PDP is relying on the votes and the support of the people of the State of Harmony, the APC is banking on its federal might — this became clearer last week, with the announcement that the former Chief Security Officer of Tinubu, had been posted as the new Commissioner of Police of Kwara.
However, the people of the state are not oblivious to the fact that in this game of politics, some play by the rules, while some, change the rules of the game to favour them in the middle of the game. The latest action by the APC-led federal government to audaciously send a clearly partisan actor as the police commissioner who will oversee the elections, has galvanised further support for the PDP and its candidates, as it has driven Kwarans closer together and ensured that they are not apathetic in the days to the general elections.
The PDP campaign slogan, ‘OTunYa’ — which means ‘continuity’ — has picked up in recent weeks and calls on the people of Kwara to remain focused and stay committed to the PDP in the state. With seven days to go, despite APC’s game-plan which involves the use of its might at the federal level, it is clear that in Kwara, the PDP still has an edge with the people.
— Ridwan Omooba writes from Ilorin —
