6th January, 2011
The Action Congress of Nigeria made the most tactical move yesterday: endorsing Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria, as its standard bearer in this year’s governorship election, days before the scheduled primary elections for the post. The man who has been one of the most visible faces of the party the past 40 months, was saved the ordeal of a potential humiliation by disaffected party members at the primaries and pundits were made to bite the dust, as the party declined to self-destruct.
Before the endorsement which was announced yesterday at the party’s state secretariat on Acme Road, Ogba, Lagos, by former governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, there had been widespread speculations about Fashola’s survival, as the political waves were filled with rumours that other aspirants within the party were eyeing Fashola’s job. So intense were the rumours that pundits warned that the ACN would be committing political suicide if Fashola was not fielded for a second term in consonance with voters expectation.
In a state with the history of voter rejection of an unpopular candidate fielded by the most popular party, yesterday’s endorsement has been seen in some quarters as a master stroke that could take the wind out of the sail of other political parties in the state, especially the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, that has vowed to capture Lagos State after repeated attempts since 1999.
We however expect Fashola not to over- celebrate his party’s support. He should see it more as a call to duty to deliver more of the goodies that the public has been applauding him for, in the next few months before the election. The ACN may appear to be the most popular party in the state, but it also has some grumblings to contend with at the rural areas, where there have been loud cries of neglect by the Fashola administration. A lot of rural roads need to be fixed for instance, before the rains and before the polls. This will make the party’s victory at the polls a fait accompli.
With the die now cast in ACN, it is left to be seen how other political parties will respond to the huge challenge now staring them in the face. The days ahead will engender interesting scenarios on the political scene. But we believe that those who will laugh last at the end of the day won’t be pretenders or rabble rousers but those who do their home work very well. They will ultimately enjoy the support of the electorate.
We believe that ACN took the right step by not fielding a dark horse for the governorship race in a sophisticated state like Lagos. It would have been the party’s undoing if it had made that mistake because opposition parties would have taken advantage of that slip to cause an upset in the forthcoming election.
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