Dipo Laleye examines the factors that gave Governor Babangida Aliyu a second term gubernatorial ticket in Niger State in the face of the onslaught of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in previous elections.THE results of both the National Assembly and presidential elections in Niger State left many political observers wondering how the new Congress for Progress Change (CPC) swept aside the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party in government in the state which has also been controlling the politics of the state in the last 12 years.At the conclusion of the National Assembly election and release of its results, the CPC was able to win one senatorial seat and three House of Representatives seats; the two remaining seats for Senate and three for House of Representatives were suspended due to the postponement of the elections in the Niger South Senatorial District and that of Suleja town following the bomb blast that left many people dead in the satellite town to the federal capital territory a day to the National Assembly election.By the time the presidential election was held and its results announced, many felt that the obituary of the PDP had been written and the burial would take place in the gubernatorial election. This was because the CPC still went ahead to win in virtually all the local government areas of the state, leaving the PDP in a distant second position.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the CPC candidate in the presidential poll, emerged winner in the state with 633,525 votes, while the PDP candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, scored 230,014 votes to come second, barely securing the 25 per cent constitutional requirement.General Buhari also won in 21 of the 25 local government areas in the state, while the PDP was victorious in four local government areas.Mallam Ibrahim Shakarau of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN) placed a distant third and fourth respectively without winning in any of the local government areas in the state.General Buhari and his CPC were to later, at the national level, lose the presidential election to PDPs Dr Goodluck Jonathan and this development became the turning point, a good one for that matter, for the Niger State PDP and its candidates in the remaining elections in the state.The loss of General Buhari led to widespread protests in several parts of the state, and most states in the northern part of the country, resulting in the death of five people and burning of 17 places of worship and five cars all belonging to the Christian and non-indigenous population in Niger State alone. Some of those that lost their lives or properties had supported the CPC and even voted for General Buhari in the election.By the time the crisis abated, most non-indigenes in the state and, in particular, Christians had made up their minds that the CPC was not a party they should associate with because of its religious intolerance and hatred for non-indigenes resident in the state.Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, the PDP gubernatorial candidate, took full advantage of the situation to woo the non-indigenous voters to his side.Aliyu, apart from assuring the people of the safety of their lives and properties, also promised to compensate those who had lost properties to the crisis.He immediately set-up a committee headed by the former Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr Jibrin Saba, with prominent Christians as members to go round the state to assess the extent of damage done during the crisis and advise the government appropriately.Aside from this, the governor held series of peace-related meetings with the non-indigenes resident in the capital city where he pleaded with them not to run away from the polling booths on election day but to remain and cast their ballots for him (Aliyu) and the PDP. He assured them that security personnel at the polling stations would guarantee the safety of their lives during and after voting.The spokesperson for the non-indigenes at these meetings also recalled the number of gestures the Aliyu government had extended to them in the last couple of years, ranging from making their wards to enjoy free education like their indigenous counterparts, and the abrogation of discriminatory fees at the state-owned institutions of higher learning, in addition to the payment of the NECO and WAEC fees of their children.For these and other reasons, they resolved to stay put in the state to pay back the governor by voting for him in the election.Another factor that assisted the governor in his re-election was the decision by the supporters of the opposition parties, particularly those of the CPC, to burn their voter cards during the crisis. It was said that at the height of the crisis, most supporters of the CPC decided to burn their voter cards and vowed not to participate in the remaining election just because General Mohammadu Buhari was not declared the winner of the presidential election. These people actually carried out their threat and on the day of the gubernatorial and House of Assembly election, many of them did not show up at the polling stations but instead went about their normal duties of buying and selling despite the restriction on the movement of people during the polls.This voter apathy, especially on the part of supporters of the ACN, and CPC in particular, left the polling booths for the supporters of the PDP and non-indigenes who had been thoroughly mobilised to take part in the election. The results of the National Assembly and presidential elections in the state showed that the PDP, especially its political appointees and elected representatives who have been in government in the state for the past 12 years, had become disconnected from the electorate, taking the voters for granted.This disconnection from the people was another reason the PDP did not do well in the first two sets of election, according to Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu. Aliyu chided his party men for alienating themselves from the electorate, saying that things almost went bad if not for the concerted efforts the government made at the last minute.Aliyu had to embark on a house-to-house campaign in virtually all the local government areas of the state, speaking directly to the people, assuring them that they would not be taken for granted again if the party was elected. He also personally spoke directly to all leaders of thought and mounted a vigorous campaign against the deadly text messages sent by the opposition to workers and voters in the state that the government would not pay the N18,000 minimum wage as approved by the Federal Government.But for the spirited efforts made by the governor and some of his aides to assure workers, labour in the state would have turned its back against the government and the result would have been disasterous at the polls.As Governor Aliyu took his campaign to the doorsteps of the people, his wife, Jumai, also moved from one locality to the other begging voters not to turn their back on her husband and the PDP.
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