Adeleke has a slim lead over Oyetola in the Osun race
The
wait is still on to determine who becomes the next governor of the Osun State. Nigeria
has some 36 States so why has this particular election in the state of Osun become
so important?
Nigeria,
the most populous black nation in the world, has struggled to live up to its
potential despite having abundant resources. The country produces some 1.5
million barrels of crude oil daily. Most of the money however ends up in the
pockets of just elite few. The World Bank estimates 53.5 percent of the country’s 180 million people live under the poverty line.
President Muhammadu Buhari is the likely APC presidential candidate
As
Nigerians prepare for the polls early next year, analysts believe that the
polls at Osun will mimick the outcome of the country’s presidential elections. Already,
the All Progressives Congress (APC) has given the strong indication that the
incumbent president General Muhammadu Buhari will be the party’s flagbearer. The
biggest opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is locked up in negotiations
to come up with the best strategy to select their presidential candidate. The process
has the potential to cause breakup in the already frail-looking party that
ruled Nigeria for 16 years.
Election
watchers are betting that the trend at this particular election will be reflected
in next year’s polls. PDP’s Ademola Adeleke remains the favorite to win. He won
last week’s contest with some 353 votes ahead of APC’s Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola.
The
rerun has become necessary because the country’s electoral body, the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC), ruled that since the difference between
the two front runners in the poll is so close, there is the need to rerun the
polls in places where the polls were either cancelled or disrupted due to
violence.
Omisore is the unlikely kingmaker in the Osun contest
With
the two parties neck-in-neck in this race, there may be an unlikely kingmaker –
Iyiola Ajani Omisore. He was third in last week’s poll and managed more than
120,000 votes in a race which was previously seen as a straight contest between
the APC and PDP.
Omisore
has just announced his support for APC’s Oyetola and has subsequently urged his
followers to vote for the governing party’s candidate.
