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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
After the 2023 general election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is looking forward to the November 11 gubernatorial contest in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states, with great optimism.
The governorship contest in the three states is a straight fight between the PDP and ruling All Progressives Congress( APC). And the opposition party, smarting from the outcome of the 2023 general elections, especially at the national level is not leaving anything to chance.
In Bayelsa, the PDP is seeking to retain the state and further consolidate its place in the politics of the Niger Delta state, which it has governed since the inception of the present democratic dispensation. While in Kogi and Imo states, the party is seeking to displace the APC, which is currently in control of the two states. The opposition party has been in and out of power in Imo and Kogi states in the last 24 years.
Incidentally, the PDP had given the APC a strong fight in the three states during the 2023 general elections. While the opposition party roundly defeated the ruling party in Bayelsa, it made very strong showing in Imo and Kogi states. Therefore, the forthcoming governorship election is another opportunity for the parties to test their might.
Last week, the PDP constituted its National Campaign Councils for the three states, to prosecute the electoral battle in the three states, with a charge to them to go win the gubernatorial polls for the opposition party.
The campaign councils for Bayelsa, with 72 members is led by the Taraba State governor, Kefas Agbu; while the Imo State campaign council with 173 members, and the Kogi State Campaigns with 150 members will be chaired by the Zamfara State governor, Lawal Dauda and his Osun State counterpart, Ademola Adeleke. They will be supported by other PDP leaders drawn from across the country.
The PDP acting National chairman, Umar Damagum, while inaugurating the National Campaign Councils, implored the members to deploy their apolitical experiences to woo the electorate in the three elections for the party.
Damagum, who charged them to “go and conquer”, said the PDP expects nothing short of victory in the three states. He stated that “you are going in at a time whereby the country, as it is, everybody is feeling the burden of the mistakes that have happened in this country.”
He added, “You have been carefully selected to go into these states and be saddled with the campaigns. We don’t expect less from you because before you were selected, you were found very capable and we expect nothing other than victory.
“We will have Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi. These are PDP states. Somehow, they slipped away but Bayelsa has always had a PDP governor.”
For the Bayelsa State governor, Douye Diri, PDP’s victory in the forthcoming governorship poll in his state is sure. According to him, “PDP is very sure of victory in Bayelsa State. We don’t have any internal crisis in the PDP in Bayelsa State.We are well organized and as a matter of fact, we have more members of the opposition coming into PDP in Bayelsa State.
“Bayelsa PDP is very strong, vibrant and poised to the win the election. If I should give you on a scale, it would be like 80-20 per cent. Bayelsans have resolved, unanimously, that PDP as exemplified by me, don’t need to change players in a winning team. “
Diri’s optimism is understandable. The PDP had won all the eight National Assembly seats in the state in the last general election to consolidate its hold in the politics of Niger Delta state. The party also walloped the APC in the state House of Assembly polls, to maintain its place as the dominant party in the state.
Therefore, pundits say November 11 gubernatorial contest is more or less a done deal for the PDP in Bayelsa, owing to its formidable structure in the state and what party supporters describe as the impressive performance of the present governor.
Like Diri, the PDP National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, who is also the Imo State gubernatorial candidate, and the opposition party’s candidate, in Kogi State, Senator Dino Melaye, are optimistic that the party will win the gubernatorial contest in their respective states.
According to Anyanwu, “Imo is traditionally a PDP State. What you have there now is a product of the court. I am back to reclaim the mandate of the PDP”.
On his part, Melaye said the APC will be sent packing from Kogi State on November 11, noting that the PDP is the party to beat in the contest. “I just want to announce that as far as this election is concerned in Kogi State, APC is history. APC has gone to oblivion. PDP is the party to beat in Kogi State and I assure the people of Kogi State that my name is Daniel and Daniel is used to taming lions. I befriend lions, I kiss lions and subdue lions, “ he stated.
Adeleke, who spoke on behalf of the chairmen of the campaign councils, during their inauguration, is equally hopeful that the electorate in the three states will cast their lots for the PDP in the November 11 polls, because of what the party represents.
Adeleke, who maintained that the opposition party has always been committed to the wellbeing of the people said: “PDP is light. We bring true development to the people and the state. In Osun State, we are showing the world what democracy is all about: development and progress for the state and the people.
“When you vote PDP, you vote light, development and progress. Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa states want light and good governance. We will work hard to deliver our governorship candidates. Light will prevail over darkness in all these forthcoming elections.”
Damagum says the PDP will be leveraging on the progress in the states it controls, as well as the alleged abysmal performance of the APC led administration in the country, to sell itself to the electorate in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states.
“I want to challenge everyone in this country to look at the states governed by PDP governors viz-a-viz the other parties. We have always excelled. Everybody knows that our party has always respected the rule of law.”
“What is expected of you is go there and remind them that this is not what we bargained for, and that there is a time God in his infinite mercy, gave us to change the course of history, and this is the time.
“To you that are going to Kogi and Imo states, remind them that it has not been like that before they made mistakes to where they are today. There are times and opportunities to change and there’s no better time than now, “ he had told the campaign councils.
Expectedly, pundits say the stakes are understandably high, especially as it is going be a battle of familiar foes. And for PDP, which is contesting the outcome of the 2023 presidential election, the three governorship seats at stake cannot be toiled with.
