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(COVER) THE BIG LOSERS OF 2023 ELECTIONS

The outcomes of the 2023 general elections have demystified many politicians, writes Akani Alaka.

 

Except for the governorship seats of Kebbi and Adawama states as well as some national and state assembly seats, the 2023 general elections can be regarded as largely concluded. Though it suffered a few losses here and there, the All Progressives Congress, APC remains the biggest party in Nigeria at the end of the elections as it retained the Presidency in addition to winning 15 of the 28 governorship seats contested for in the February 25 and 18 March elections.

Though it lost out in the presidential race, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP still retained its position as the main opposition party in the country with its victory in nine states. However, it was the Labour Party, LP that justified the predictions of some analysts that the 2023 elections will not be a two-horse race. Labour Party, LP, and the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP won one governorship election seat each.
APC and PDP are running neck and neck in the already declared results for Adamawa and Kebbi states where elections were declared inconclusive and as such, any of the candidates of the two parties are expected to be declared the winner after the runoff elections.

The Tribunals Take Over

But as usual with Nigeria’s elections, the battles have shifted to the next stage – the courts. For the presidential election, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, the candidates of PDP and LP respectively, and a couple of other parties have already filed petitions at the Court of Appeal to challenge the declaration of Bola Tinubu of APC as the winner of the election.

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Also, reports across the states last week indicated that those who lost out in the National Assembly elections have also filed petitions at the state election tribunals.
While protests and cries of foul play have also trailed the declaration of results of the governorship and state houses of assembly elections, this newspaper learnt last week that some of the contestants are still hoping that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC will utilize the seven days window it has to review the results before they will head to the tribunal.
But most of the cases will still end up in the tribunal and lawyers to the aggrieved contestants in the governorship and national assembly polls are expected to get busy from this week.
However, without prejudice to the outcome of the contests at the tribunals, what is clear is that beyond the candidates who could realise their ambitions, the outcomes of the elections have demystified many politicians who could not hold on to their domains or failed woefully to deliver for their parties or their candidates across the country.

Matawalle, Lalong Lose Out

Arguably, the biggest loser among those on the ballot in the governorship election was Governor Bello Matawalle who could not get a second term in Zamfara. Matawalle, who contested on the platform of PDP in 2019, became governor of Zamfara State after the Supreme Court disqualified all the candidates of the APC who were victorious in that election, including the then governor-elect.
The apex court had in its judgement said all the runners–up in the elections should replace the APC candidates. Thus, Matawalle assumed office as governor. But he later defected to the APC. However, his defection led to crises in the party as he was involved in the battle for control of the Zamfara chapter of the party with his predecessor Abdulaziz Yari, and ex-senator Kabiru Marafa.
But he lost his re-election battle even though he managed to patch up his relationship with the APC chieftains just before the election.
Ironically, APC won the presidential election in the state, polling 298,396 votes to defeat PDP which got 193,978 votes. Analysts said the worsening insecurity, particularly banditry in most parts of the state as well as the popularity of Dauda Lawal, the governorship candidate of the PDP were the chief factors responsible for the failure of Matawalle to get a second term. Lawal won the election with 377,726 votes to defeat Matawalle who got 311,976 votes.

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Despite his position as the Director-General of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council Simon Lalong could not deliver Plateau State for his party in the presidential election. APC was beaten to third place by the Labour Party and the PDP in the presidential election. Lalong who was eyeing the Senate presidency lost his bid for the Plateau South Senatorial seat to retired AVM Napoleon Bali of the PDP.
The total routing of APC and Lalong’s political family was completed in Plateau on 18 March when the party’s candidate, Nentawe Yilwatda lost to Caleb Mutfwang of PDP by 481,370 to 525,299 votes.

Amosun’s Godfather Bid Failed

When Governor Dapo Abiodun said that his re-election has shown no man can play God, those familiar with the politics of Ogun State did not need to scratch their heads to know that the inference was to his predecessor, former Governor Ibukunle Amosun.
The former governor, who was in charge of Ogun State between 2011 and 2019, had vowed to ensure that Abiodun did not return to the office for a second term although they are members of the same party. It was believed that his bid to stop the re-election of the governor was in continuation of the battle for the APC gubernatorial ticket in 2018.
Amosun had lost the battle to get the APC ticket for his preferred candidate, Abdulkabir Akinlade to Abiodun. But instead of giving up, Amosun migrated his supporters to the Allied Progressives Movement (APM), under which Akinlade ran and still lost to Abiodun. But he remained in APC where he won election into the Senate alongside his other supporters. However, ahead of the 2023 election, he lost control of the party to Abiodun. He and his supporters also lost their national assembly tickets in the primaries of the party.
Speaking at an Abeokuta Club event late last year, Amosun claimed that Abiodun rigged himself into power in 2019 and that he would not be allowed to do the same in 2023. “Just wait; very soon, you will hear where we are going next. You know my stand, and my stand is my stand. I am not supporting this administration that is there now. He must be removed,” he further told reporters after the event. His stand became clear as he later declared support and began to canvass support for the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Biyi Otegbeye against Abiodun.
However, despite his vigorous campaign for him, the ADC candidate and Amosun lost out in the election. Abiodun won the election with a total of 276,298 votes, beating his closest challenger, and candidate of PDP Oladipupo Adebutu, who scored 262, 383 votes. Otegbeye came third with 94,754 votes despite the support of Amosun.
APC also won all the Senate seats at the national assembly elections. Thus, Amosun had not only lost his Senate seat, but his bid to assume the role of godfather in Ogun State and it will be interesting to see how he will continue to make himself relevant in the politics of Ogun State going forward.

‘Oto ge’ Train Unstoppable

The National Chairman of APC, Abdullahi Adamu, has also come under pressure after he failed to deliver Nasarawa State to his party in the presidential election. He also lost his senatorial seat to Ahmed Wadada of SDP, though APC secured a very narrow win in the governorship election in the state. Nevertheless, some members of APC who have been calling on Adamu to step aside are citing his loss of the senatorial seat as one of the reasons.
In Kwara, the Bukola Saraki political dynasty again failed to halt their political decimation by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq-led APC train. The former Senate president who also played a prominent role in the presidential campaign of Atiku failed to deliver Kwara for PDP at the presidential and governorship elections. Governor AbdulRazaq was re-elected with 273,424 votes to beat Alhaji Yaman Abdullahi of PDP who was anointed by Saraki with 155,490 votes.

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AbdulRazaq won in all the 16 local government areas of the state announced by the INEC returning officer, who is also Vice-Chancellor of the University of Markurdi, Benue State, Professor Isaac Itodo. Also, the APC candidate Tinubu defeated PDP in the presidential election in Kwara with 263,572 to 136,909 votes.

The ‘Super Nobodys’

The elections have left many party chieftains transmuting to ‘super nobodys’ to borrow Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike’s description of arguably his arch-foe and former transportation minister, Rotimi Amaechi last week. Wike was mocking his predecessor who was until he resigned to contest for the presidential ticket of APC last year the minister of transportation, one of the so-called ‘juicy portfolios’ in the federal cabinet.
While Amaechi failed to get the presidential ticket, he had in the run-up to the election supported Tonye Cole, his party’s candidate against Siminalayi Fubara, the ex-Accountant General of Rivers State backed by Wike in the election.
Results of the elections as declared early last week show that the APC not only lost to the PDP at the governorship poll, it also failed to grab any of the 23 houses of assembly seats in the state. While reacting to the declaration of Fubara as governor-elect and sweeping of all the seats in the state assembly by PDP candidates last Monday, Wike attacked Amaechi, who he claimed had been antagonistic to his political aspiration.
He had noted that Amaechi also lost to the PDP in his community, Ubima, his ward, and the local government area during the election. He said the successive resounding victory of the PDP against APC in Rivers since 2015 has diminished Amaechi’s political relevance in the state and nationally.
“When we came out in 2015, we were not in government. There was a governor (Amaechi) then in 2015. He was the Director General (DG) of the (Muhammadu) Buhari campaign. In 2019, he was a super minister and was also DG of the Buhari campaign. He never gave him (Buhari) 25 percent. 2015, he never gave him 25 percent. This is 2023, and they cannot get a 25 percent vote in the states. We have also defeated him. You were a super governor, we defeated you. You were a super minister, we defeated you, now, you are a super nobody, we defeated you.”
But it was not only Amaechi that Wike believed has been rendered politically prostrate by the outcome of the 2023 elections. He had declared that the national chairman of PDP, Iyorchia Ayu, failed in his home state, Benue, to bring any value to the party in the general elections. The PDP lost two senatorial seats as well as the governorship election in Benue State to the APC. The APC also won the presidential election in the state, with the PDP coming third behind the APC and Labour Party. Wike had led members of the G-5 governors who refused to support Atiku as the presidential candidate of the party because of the refusal of Ayu to vacate office as the chairman of the party.
He believed that Ayu has lost his political relevance with the near-complete kick-out of the PDP in his state by the opposition party. He put the PDP chairman in the same boat as former governors of Niger and Jigawa states, Babangida Aliyu and Sule Lamido who had championed the presidential aspiration of Atiku, but failed to deliver victories for the PDP in the governorship and presidential elections. APC won the governorship and the presidential election in Niger State.
The opposition party also won the presidential and governorship elections in Jigawa State. This was even though one of the sons of the former governor was the candidate of the party. Aliyu and Lamido had also at various times criticised the refusal of the Wike-led G-5 to support Atiku during the campaign for the presidential election.
“Rivers is PDP. The governorship and national assembly members are PDP. Ayu lost his polling unit. I won three senatorial seats and 32 Assembly seats. He didn’t get anything. Jigawa did not win the presidential election. Babangida Aliyu did not win. So who is the betrayer? We won to make sure PDP exists. Of what relevance is he as national chairman? Why do you want to use another zone to remain as a national chairman? I cannot leave this party. Ayu left and came back,” Wike said last week in what some analysts had said is a signal to the battle ahead for the soul of the opposition party, especially if Atiku failed to win the petition.

G-5

But then, some analysts are also heaping the blame on Wike over what may turn out to be a total slip in the political influence and career of some members of the G5 group going by the outcome of the elections. Three members of the G-5 governors lost their bid to remain politically relevant in the state after their tenures as they lost their bid to retire to the Senate.
In Benue, Samuel Ortom lost to Titus Zam, his former special adviser who contested on the platform of the APC in the contest for the Benue North-West Senatorial District. The PDP had also lost the state to APC in the governorship election and state house of assembly elections. APC candidate, Hyacinth Alia, a Roman Catholic priest, defeated Titus Uba of the PDP and current Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly with 473,933 votes to 223,913 votes.
Another member of G-5, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi also lost his bid to represent Enugu North to Okechukwu Ezea of the LP, while Governor Okezie Ikpeazu was defeated by All Progressives Grand Alliance candidate, Enyinnaya Abaribe in the battle for Abia South senatorial district.
While PDP managed to retain Enugu in the governorship election, Alex Otti of LP overwhelmingly defeated the PDP candidate in the Abia gubernatorial poll. However, some of those who spoke to this newspaper last week said the Governor of Enugu and Abia lost to the Labour Party hurricane as the PDP also lost the presidential election to the party in their states.
Also on the verge of slipping into irrelevance unless he can win the stalemated contest for Sokoto South when it is eventually conducted is Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State. INEC had declared elections into all 11 Federal Constituencies and the three Senatorial Districts inconclusive. The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, according to sources had his eyes fixed on becoming the Senate president if Atiku had won the presidential election.
Indeed, he was the director-general of the Atiku Campaign and it was believed that he tilted the battle for the PDP presidential ticket in favour of the former vice president against Wike when he stepped down at the primary of the party in 2022. But Tambuwal has already lost the governorship seat in Sokoto to the opposition APC.
Ahmed Aliyu of the APC was declared the winner of the governorship polls with a total of 453661 votes. Saidu Umar of the PDP polled a total vote of 404632 to come second in the election. Analysts said that failure to win the senatorial seat may consign Tambuwal to political irrelevance in Sokoto State.

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