Power Of Incumbency Versus People’s Will

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The people have again spoken loud and clear. They have settled for the governorship candidate of their choice in Imo State after the stalemate of 26 April led to the rescheduled election on 6 May in four local governments in the state. Although there were desperate attempts to subvert the will of the people through snatching of ballot boxes, intimidation and harassment, the power of incumbency could not withstand the will of the people at the end of the voting exercise.

Rochas Okorocha, the governorship flagbearer of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, floored the incumbent governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ikedi Ohakim. Okorocha polled 336,859 votes to defeat Ohakim who got 290,496 votes after all the results were collated from the 26 April election and the 6 May election conducted in four local government areas – Ngor-Okpala, Mbaitoli, Ohaji/Egbema, Oguta and Orji ward in Owerri North.

In Oyo State, Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala of PDP suffered a similar fate as the power of incumbency could not save him from defeat by Abiola Ajumobi of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. The people of Oyo State brow-beat subterfuge and all kinds of shenanigans to vote for the candidate of their choice.

Governor Akwe-Doma of Nassarawa State also had his comeuppance when Tanko Al-Makura, the candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, won the election and this effectively dashed his hope of returning to power on 29 May when the newly elected politicians will be sworn in.

Incumbent senators and members of the House of Representatives who sought re-election across the country lost out as the electorate rejected them at the polls. The lesson in all this is that elected office holders who expect to ride on the back of incumbency to return to power will be nursing a forlorn hope because the people will vote for them on the basis of their performance not because they are occupying such positions during an election year.

The electorate are more enlightened and wiser now, coupled with an impartial electoral umpire. No matter the resources at the disposal of the incumbent, what matters most is whether they performed to the expectations of the people. This was the yardstick the electorate used to vote for or against the political office seekers.

The roles of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as an impartial arbiter and non government organisations also went a long way in shattering the power of incumbency during the just concluded polls. They insisted that every electorate’s vote must count and despite every attempt by desperate politicians to manipulate the electoral process for their own gain, the people had their way eventually. Things can only get better if INEC sustains this sterling performance and begins to prepare in earnest for the next elections in 2015.

 

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