Going into Saturday’s presidential election, Yobe State is one of the strongholds of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Northern Nigeria.
The Party controls every elective position from top to bottom, a jinx the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is trying to break.
But the ruling APC in the state has been absorbing supporters of opposition parties as evident through massive defections. The development is threatening the yearning of the PDP which is strategizing to obtain a high number of Yobe’s votes in the presidential election, as well as win the gubernatorial and other elections.
On the 10th of January, 2023, the mammoth crowd of APC supporters, stalwarts and chieftains that came out to cheer the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate Kashim Shettima was a clear testament to the fact that most people of the state have settled for the controversial Muslim-Muslim ticket, which they think may be a direct blessing to them.
For instance, the Senate President, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan said: “PDP mismanaged and mis-administered Nigeria for 16 years.
“When Boko Haram started in the northeast, in Borno state, the then leadership of PDP said it was not true, that there was nothing like Boko Haram and Boko Haram blossomed. Boko Haram flourished and Boko Haram gained ground and took root.
“Your Excellency, Boko Haram caused maximum, devastating impacts in our lives here. Your Excellency, Borno, Yobe and Adamawa particularly, we were under a state of emergency for 18 months”.
This was deliberately done to further de-market the PDP, thus reminding the people of the state the wounds they had sustained during the humanitarian conflict.
Again, Lawan had during the recent APC’s fund raising ceremony in Damaturu called on his party supporters not allow PDP to get even up to 2 per cent of total votes that would be cast in all elections in the state.
He, therefore, tasked them to give APC at least 1.2 million votes, especially in presidential and governorship elections.
Similarly, the crowd that stormed August 27 Stadium Damaturu, precisely on Wednesday February 8, 2023, to show their support to the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, was also unprecedented, as many were left wondering where the crowd came from.
Even the presidential candidate was so amazed by the large turnout, hence while addressing the gathering he said, “We were always being told that there is no PDP in Yobe state. But today, you have proved them wrong”.
Atiku’s campaign message during the visit centred around reopening of borders for business to flourish, with pledges to empower millions of Nigerians, end insecurity that is bedevilling almost all regions of the country, strengthen education, health sectors, among others, if elected as the next president.
According to impeccable sources, the government in the state was unhappy with the state officials for allowing such a crowd to attend PDP’s rally.
Some say the crowd that besieged the venue further demonstrated that many Nigerians are tired of APC’s style of leadership, as they accused the government of the day of inflicting untold hardship on ordinary people through its unpopular policies and programmes. One of such is the current cash crunch that is biting harder by the day and generally, high standard of living.
‘Rescue Mission’ agenda was the main thrust of Atiku’s message at the Yobe rally and was heeded by the jubilant supporters who cheered the candidate throughout the event.
On the other hand, one can say that the presidential candidates of NNPP, LP, AA as well as other parties are out of the equation in Yobe, as their influence is too weak to change the political landscape of the state.
Their campaigns were characterised by poor turnout of supporters in the state.
It is obvious that the battle to garner the highest votes in Yobe is between the APC and the PDP, though the ruling party may have an upper hand considering its decades of influence in the state.