BY today, it is expected that tension would have died down enough for polls to hold for the governorship slot in 26 states and the 34 Houses of Assembly with some National Assembly seats that were affected by the shift of the polls on April 2. The rescheduled polls for governors would have been held in Kaduna and Bauchi alongside 29 other states today but for the deadly riots that trailed the results of the presidential election of April 16 in which many people, particularly National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members were killed by the rioters. Five other state governors, who got court reprieve to elongate their tenure, will only watch legislative elections hold in their states.
In Rivers, Osun, Ogun, Delta, Plateau, Jigawa, Abia and Akwa Ibom states, preparations for the elections are in top gear with assurances by stakeholders that there would be no problems despite the apprehension.
In Rivers State, there is palpable apprehension that today?s poll might take a diametrical twist because so much is at stake for the contenders.
The governing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) whose candidate is Governor Chibuike Amaechi is slugging it out with almost two scores of opponents, had last week reported uncovered an alleged plot by the Action Congress of Nigerian (ACN) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) of procuring fake army and police uniforms to impersonate security agencies today with the intention of inflicting violence on its supporters.
Apprehension about the volatility of today?s election stems from the fact that both ACN and APGA candidates, Abiye Sekibo and Celestine Omehia, are sworn political enemies of Amaechi.
The head of Amaechi?s campaign team, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike alleged that the ACN and APGA convened meetings at the residences of their governorship candidates on April 17 and 15, 2011 in that order to work out detailed modalities to execute their criminal plots.
But the spokesperson of ACN, Jerry Nedam countered that the allegation was false and cooked up by the PDP to smear the image of the party.
However, to forestall a possible breakdown of law and order, more security personnel have been deployed to some strategic parts of Port Harcourt, Obio-Akpor, Omoku, Ogoni and Okrika axis.
The Guardian gathered that some former militants were picked up at Omoku in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni by security agents Sunday morning following a tip off that they have been directed to a major former warlord to disrupt elections in the area.
Amaechi, in a broadcast to the people of the state has assured all law-abiding citizens that their security would be guaranteed as the government, the armed forces and other security agencies have beefed up security in all the 23 local councils to ensure that there is no breach of peace.
Meanwhile, a source in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) told The Guardian that the commission was prepared for today?s election.
The battle for the 26 legislative seats in Osun State (one of the states where governorship election would not hold) would be contested between two archrivals, the ruling ACN and PDP.
The state appeared to have made a bold statement in the last two polls outing under Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the opposition seems ready to upset the apple cart, hence the battle royal expected today.
Already, the state security committee headed by the state Commissioner of Police Peter Gana, had held interactive session with candidates and party leaders on what are expected from them to have hitch-free polls.
In Warri, Delta State, the tension is so thick it could be sliced with a knife. The two main contending parties, the PDP?s Governor Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan and the Democratic People?s Party?s (DPP) Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru are gladiators that can heat up ice block to boiling point in a few seconds.
Although both contestants have been appealing to their supporters to remain calm and troop out to vote as so much is at stake, Delta State could join the flash point states if rigging is introduced, especially in the riverside communities.
In the April 9 and the governorship re-run polls of January 6, there was so much tension and accusations of rigging in certain sections of the state. Although all the parties united to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan on April 16, today?s poll would be a test of the strength, wide acceptability and ego.
The national coordinator of Restore Initiative, Gloria Okolugbo, assessing the state of affairs in the state, said: ?The INEC should ensure that their technical weaknesses are corrected before the re-scheduled elections are conducted. INEC?s posturing before and during (the previous) elections gave a lot of concern and could have led to creating a perception that INEC was about to encounter problems.?
But the various security agencies, especially the have assured that they would ensure free and fair and credible polls in the state.
The Navy massed a large fleet on the Warri River yesterday including a military helicopter and for several hours showed off its might.
Ordinarily, there has been unceasing tension in Plateau State that was temporarily put on hold during the presidential election of April 16.
But with the same supremacy contest between the incumbent governor David Jonah Jang being challenged by his former deputy and now Labour Party (LP) flag bearer, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, the security agencies have more to contend with than policing a state where more bombs and guns have killed rival groups in the last two years than other states.
The state was one of those that witnessed violent upheaval after the presidential election results were announced.
As at yesterday, the state capital, Jos, was like a state in the throes of war. Security personnel patrolling the capital were armed to the teeth. They combed everywhere and every dustbin with bomb detectors and stopped people at random for ?stop and search?.
The INEC in the state has also said that it is ready for today?s polls and would swap members of the NYSC to make sure that they were not a target of any untoward attack unlike the April 16 poll.
The Commissioner of Police, Emmanuel Dipo Ayeni assured: ?Our men are on red alert and our vehicles are there for full patrols of the whole state. We have embarked on show of force and this will continue even after the elections. We are prepared?,? he said.
In Kaduna State where the fiercest riots broke out after the presidential polls, Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa has assured that adequate security has been provided ahead of the polls scheduled for Thursday, in the state, but the opposition parties are saying that there is need to shift the conduct of the elections again.
Yakowa hinges his optimism on a massive deployment of military personnel in the state to hopefully neutralize any similar hostilities.
However, other governorship candidates of the major opposition parties under the leadership of Alhaji Balarabe Musa of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) have threatened to employ all legal means to ensure that Thursday?s governorship election did not hold because of fear of violence and the tension generated by last week?s post election crisis.
Ogun State is another of the states where tension and anxiety are real because of the forces out to test their strength today at the polls.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo will lead his supporters to try to upstage the supporters of two-term governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel?s anointed candidates in what promises to be battle royal.
People?s fears rose when the State Police Commissioner, Olayinka Balogun at the weekend informed the public that intelligent report available to him indicated that some politicians had brought some ?thugs? to the state and housed them at hotels in different locations in Abeokuta, the state capital to cause trouble during the election. He however assured that security agencies were on top of the situation.
Jigawa State polls today will also follow a similar state of heightened apprehension as in other states of the country. INEC in the state is hoping that politicians would comport themselves well to avoid problems.
In Akwa Ibom and Abia states, the tension is also palpable.
Akwa Ibom had witnessed pre-election violence of immense proportions even though the last two elections were relatively violence- free.
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