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From Abel Leonard, Lafia
Less than three months to the 2023 governorship election in Nasarawa State, the manifestoes of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have become topical issues among artisans and business owners in the state. The people are critically looking at manifestoes of the two political parties to be able to determine where to place their support in the choice of the next governor of the state. Since the electioneering campaign started and the parties started reeling out their promises, the people have expressed divergent view about those promises.
Coincidentally, the two political parties flagged off their campaigns in Nasarawa West, Toto Local Government Area, to be precise, considered by analysts as the battle ground for both parties in the run up to the 2023 governorship election in the state.
On November 29, the APC flagged off its campaign, with incumbent governor of the state, Abdullahi Sule, who is seeking a reelection for the second term. He set the ball rolling by reeling out his manifestoes and agenda for 2023, if elected again as governor of the state.
In the same vein, the PDP equally flagged off its campaign the following day, Tuesday, November 30, with the party’s governorship candidate, David Ombugadu, who incidentally is also contesting for the state number one seat for the second time. Ombugadu contested the 2019 governorship election and lost to the incumbent Governor Sule.
During the event, Gov Sule promised to consolidate on his achievements, highlighting some of his achievements in the local government, and pledging to do more if voted for a second term in office. He told the people to expect more development projects in the next four years, if reelected for a second term.
“All the development projects initiated by this administration in Toto Local Government Area are visible to all. Even today, there’s an ongoing medical outreach to bring health to the people; training has commenced for 2000 women and youths across the state, with that of Toto starting today,” he said.
The PDP, during its flag -off campaign in Toto local government area of the state, took a swipe at the APC candidate, saying he has not done anything for almost four years that he has governed the state, insisting that only the PDP had a clear agenda for the state.
The PDP candidate, Ombugadu, vowed to establish good governance in the state and ensure that the 13 local government areas in the state experience rapid development if he is voted into office in 2023. He promised to translate his great plans for the state into reality in order to address all areas that the state is lagging behind.
“I will develop the 13 LGAs if I’m given the opportunity. So, give me your votes in 2023 and I promise not to disappoint you,” he appealed.
However, residents have been reacting to their promises after they flagged off their campaigns. Some business owners who spoke to our correspondent were of the view that both candidates are young and vibrant, especially in terms of their age, and that both have the capacity to transform Nasarawa State.
There are those who believe that the PDP had a clearer agenda than the APC. Yet, there are others who said they had lost confidence in the ruling APC because they did not feel the impact of the government in their communities, as hunger, fear of kidnappers, and lack of infrastructure among others became the real issues that bedevilled them.
A businessman in the area, Theophilus Aminu, stressed that both the APC and the PDP candidates were good, but noted that the PDP candidate was much younger. He also admitted that both candidates love Nasarawa State.
“You can see capacity in both of them; they can transform the state, but in politics, two people cannot be governor at the same time. It is only one and it depends on the people’s choices.
“I was in the APC campaign flag off yesterday, and today I am here for the PDP; it is not about political party, but about what we could hold accountable. As an individual, I have listened to them and I now know what I will tell my family, and peer groups about who to vote for in the governorship election.”
On which candidate’s agenda he felt would affect the state positively, Aminu said both candidates’ agenda for Nasarawa State were perfect but the PDP had a one point agenda that covers everything that the people of the state are agitating for; which is education and insecurity.
He said “the present administration had tried in terms of keeping the state safe but as a business man in this area, insecurity is threatening the state, because on a daily basis, you would hear one case of either herdsmen crisis, kidnapping or robbery. And this affects us negatively as they close shops earlier because of the fear of the unknown.”
Mr. Abubakar Adamu, an auto mechanic said things had not gone well with him in the present APC government and that forced him to make up his mind not to vote again, considering the hardship people are currently facing in his community.
Speaking to our Correspondent in one of the rallies, Adamu said he decided to come and listen to political manifestoes once more, just to know if that could rekindle his hope to vote again for the right candidate so as to bring about the needed change to his community.
He said he was on the campaign trail of APC in 2019 working day and night for the success of the party but lamented that the frustration, pain and disappointment the ruling All Progressives Party brought on people was never expected by anybody.
“Let me tell you, yesterday the APC did not tell us anything rather than saying they will continue with what they had done; what have they done, hardship and unemployment? Those in authority give their family members and cronies jobs, which are meant to go round. APC has failed us.
“The governor is a gentle man but the party leaders and appointees did not know why they were appointed; they are only interested in buying cars and properties that have no impact on us in the community.
“I am a mechanic; people come to my shop to repair their cars and oftentimes they can’t afford to pay for the repair. The standard of living is very low now. I have four children to take care of, with other family members,” he lamented.
Also speaking, one of the chiefs in Toto Local Government Area, who does not want his name in print, said his community people had listened to both political candidates’ agenda and tend to believe that the PDP has a clearer idea of what Nasarawa State should be, especially in his community.
He said judging by the previous administrations of the PDP in the state, things were better off for them as the people in their communities were gainfully employed. He noted that some were even given scholarships but lamented that today everything has been politicized, as many young men and women in his community continue to roam around in search of jobs.
He said his community in Toto Local Government is being marginalized, and that they are not feeling the impact of government except on radio where the people are told that there is construction of road and infrastructure ongoing in his community which is not true.
“From what I have seen in both political parties’ agenda, the PDP seems to be very clear in their manifesto as they seek to eliminate poverty which is what people want to hear, and also to arrest insecurity in the area, while the APC seeks to consolidate on what people in my community did not feel,” he said.
Supporters’ mood in Toto LGA
Checks revealed that a good number of supporters who came to witness the campaign were with a mindset as a result of the party’s internal crisis that had made some chieftains of the party in that zone to move to another political party, even as some were still in court.
The supporters had accused the National Chairman of allegedly changing the list of delegates which had affected one of their sons, Labaran Magaji, who won the hearts of the majority of the youths in the area.
Magaji had dragged the APC and the candidate that won the primary election for Nasarawa West, Shehu Tukur to a Federal High court in Lafia, alleging that the list that was used for the conduct of the primary elections in the zone was doctored.
The development, he noted, was perceived to be injurious to their son, and from their mood and what they said on that day, it seems they had taken a position on what the election will look like in the LGA.
One of the supporters, who spoke in Hausa language, told the Daily Sun that they would not fold their hands and allow the party to take their son’s mandate. “We will not do APC again (Ba mu ayi),” he said.
Again, there is a trending video on social media about the APC’s campaign flag off, where supporters were heard chanting, “We will not do, we will not do; we will not do APC.”
However, the APC had debunked the video, saying it was the opposition that sponsored thugs to disrupt the flag off of their campaign in Toto Local Government.
For the PDP, being the major opposition party in the state and with the deputy governor coming from the axis, the venue of the campaign was filled to capacity, as young men and women trooped into the venue to witness the party’s campaign flag-off.
Majority of those who spoke to Daily Sun appeared to be saying that the PDP was the only party that has accommodated their son, who is the deputy governorship candidate, and they will do everything within their powers to support him.
“He is our own; the son of our royal father. You can see the crowd; we are ready to put our own there,” one of the supporters said.
The PDP supporters had accused the APC and the Nigerian police of conspiring to frustrate their campaign in Toto LGA, but the police had since debunked the allegation, saying the decision was taken for the good of all the political parties.
The police noted that there was a clash of date and location with the APC, and that the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed-Baba, only advised the PDP to shift its rally to the next day in order to avert clashes among supporters, and to adequately provide security to both parties for their campaign rallies.
“So, it is for the sake of providing adequate security for the two political parties that the police advised PDP to shift theirs to the next day. It is not as if they were outrightly stopped or prevented,” the Police said.
But, the people insisted saying, “It is strange that some hours to the party’s campaign rally, the police commissioner told us that he is not aware that we are holding our rally in Toto LGA, therefore, we do not have the permission.
“It was established that PDP was the first to notify the police of its campaign schedule. Strangely, we have not been called to any meeting with the APC that there is any conflict, so it is clear to us that this is an attempt to scuttle the campaigns in Nasarawa State”, he said.
Considering the people’s views about the two political parties, analysts are of the view that the battle for number one seat would be more than what people imagined. “As campaign progresses, PDP and APC should have this at the back of their minds that the battle for power, though not physical, will be fiercer than ever in the state.”
