Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, has been successful in making the next election a three-horse contest over the past few months.
When legislators who lost their party’s nomination looked to the Labour Party as a viable alternative and sought to capitalize on Mr. Obi’s popularity, the former governor of Anambra State catapulted the relatively obscure organization into the national spotlight.
Despite Mr. Obi’s popularity, the party was unable to field candidates for a number of Senate and House of Representatives seats, especially in districts that are not Mr. Obi’s stronghold.
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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced a list of candidates, and the Labour Party has 78 candidates on it for the 109 seats that are open.
Due to the fact that they coincide with the presidential elections, these National Assembly elections are significant.
As a result, it may be possible for all candidates from the same political party to pool their resources.
In the South and some regions of the North Central, Mr. Obi continues to enjoy popularity; but, in the Northeast and Northwest, his standing is still in question.
A brief analysis of the data reveals that the majority of the open seats are in Mr. Obi’s opponents’ heartland, not because the party doesn’t have candidates for all of them.
There are 176.846 polling units nationwide, and every party is required to have a minimum of one agent in each one.
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Having candidates in every federal and senatorial district can assist ensure that there are poll workers at every voting location.
The Labour Party does not have a single senatorial candidate in Borno State, the home state of Kashim Shettima, the All Progressives Congress (APC) running mate.
The Labour Party does not have a senatorial candidate in the states of Kebbi, Katsina, Lagos, or Ekiti.
Balyesa Labour Party has one senatorial candidate in each of the States of Ondo, Yobe, Jigawa, and Delta.
The absence of candidates in those senatorial districts worries development expert Hassan Nurudeen since having candidates for every position is crucial on election day.
“On election day, there are certain stakeholders that you cannot do without. They are the ones who understand the political scenery of that area. It could be a community, a local government or a senatorial district. They understand these places. Yes, the Labour Party will get votes in these areas, however, it may not change the balance of votes against the PDP and APC, who already have senatorial candidates in these places.
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“A senatorial candidate fights for two things, first, his victory and showing a good standing with his party, which the Labour Party may lack in those constituencies because of the lack of such candidates. The popularity of the Labour Party may not matter because if on the day of the election, there is no one to defend the interest of the party, this may be a huge problem.
“Nigeria is still a young democracy, compared to other countries. Yes, things are evolving, but there are still things we still have to put in perspective. We have not gotten to that stage where the will of the people is done. Party has a huge role to play. The party may be popular among the youth, but would the young people come out to vote? Would young people face the powers that be on that day? Would they be able to defend their votes? And finally, there is a huge difference between registration for PVC and actual voting. Although, in this election, there is a bit of optimism.
Eni-Out, a legal practitioner told Newsmen that the data from INEC shows that politicians in the region where Obi is popular are seeking to ride on his popularity.
“Obi is quite popular in the southeast and south-south, so, except for Delta and Bayelsa, his party has candidates in almost all of the States in those two regions. Having candidates is part of what is called structure. In some constituencies, local politics will have an impact on the national election, an electorate may vote Labour Party in Taraba North, not necessarily because of Obi, but perhaps because of a senatorial or Reps candidate.
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“Here is how it works, as they are mobilizing for themselves, they are mobilizing for you. Often, voters—particularly the elderly vote straight down. if they are voting Labour for president, they will probably vote for the senatorial and House of Representatives candidates.
Also, it helps with the cost of elections. The Labour party is not going into the election with a strong war chest like the PDP or APC. If the party has to finance party agents in all the polling units and pay them feeding money of N10,000 per day, it will cost N1.76 billion for agents alone.”
Recall that Pat Utomi, a senior member of the Labour party, had proposed sending 15 agents to each voting unit.
It would cost N26 billion, according to Mr. Eniotu’s estimate, unless they can find volunteers who are familiar with their area and devoted to the party and the candidate.
It is important to note that the Labour Party has not yet appointed a campaign council or even a spokesperson. As things are, it seems that the candidate’s popularity still plays a major role in the system.
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