Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the two dominant political parties in Nigeria, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been holding primary elections of the parties to elect candidates for different positions.
With controversies trailing the elections in different states, PAUL OKAH speaks to Nigerians on what to expect in 2019.
Ambode should defect Among all the controversies trailing the APC ahead of the 2019 general elections is the travails being faced by Ambode in Lagos State.
I don’t know what particular crime he committed to warrant such a humiliation in Lagos State.
Everyone seems to be against him.
Imagine a situation whereby even your deputy voted against you in an election.
Left for me, he should defect to any of the opposition parties in order to realize his mandate.
It is obvious that he is no longer wanted in the APC, especially as the Lagos State House of Assembly members are against him.
Even if he wins in another party, which I don’t see happening, the lawmakers will still impeach him.
In any case, Tinubu has used the controversial primaries in Lagos to show his influence.
He made it clear that Ambode will not return as governor of Lagos and everything is happening according to the script.
In all fairness, Ambode gave a good fight, but the forces against him were just too many.
Even his personal verbal attacks on his major challenger was below par in the situation and could not possibly have won him the desired result, as he went about it the wrong way.
He should just tidy up his records because even the cancellation of the election by the National Working Committee of the APC in Lagos cannot save him.
In politics, godfathers can either make or mar you and Ambode will forever be used as an example.
Like I said before, the option left for him is to continue the second term fight in another party.
Even though he will not win, he would at least salvage his bruised ego of being eased out of office by the same people that installed him.
Tijani Nurudeen, political analyst.
Ben Bruce a rare politician Senator Ben Bruce Murrey will go down in history as one of the best things that have happened in the history of politics in Nigeria.
I may not know the inside details or reasons for his action, but his letter of withdrawal from the Bayelsa East Senatorial Race is reminiscent of Iconic Nelson Mandela of South Africa refusing to seek a second term in office, something many African leaders have been killing to do.
In the Senate, just like Shehu Sani of the opposition APC, Ben Bruce has been an outspoken senator that seems to have a moral compass guiding his conduct in the Red Chamber.
Perhaps the controversies being witnessed in the primary elections of political parties in the country are not too palatable for a person of his standing or his vision of what 2019 is not a good one, we will never know, but I wish other politicians can emulate such a rare politician.
Politics in Nigeria has been turned into a do or do affair and I don’t even know what to expect from our politicians in 2019.
Tijani Nkechinyere Osaghae Rosemary Rosemary Takang, civil servant.
Ekiti, Osun pointer to 2019 2019 is going to be very bloody, with the way things are going in the primary elections of the two major political parties in Nigeria, notably the PDP and APC.
When APC won Ekiti State in controversial circumstances, I thought they will learn their lessons and stop courting controversies, especially with the condemnation of vote buying by observers.
However, Osun State turned out to be more controversial.
In Osun State, the PDP won the election by all standards, however, when the result from Osogbo took hours to be collated, it became obvious that the party was up to something sinister and I was not surprised when the party colluded with INEC to announce the election as inconclusive.
Even the intimidation, harassment and vote buying in the rerun held last week cannot be ignored by well-meaning Nigerians and international bodies.
The Ekiti and Osun litmus tests pointers to what we should expect from the ruling party in 2019, but the experience has not been a good one and does not stand our country in a good light before the international community.
Okoye Patrick, businessman.
Opposition may take over Imo The PDP has not witnessed as much controversy as the APC in the primary elections of the two parties currently going on in different parts of the country.
I am particular concerned about the controversies and what they portend for our fledgling democracy.
Rochas Okorocha has been in the eyes of the storm recently in Imo State because of his determination to foist his in-law, Nwosu, on the rest of the Imo people, even though Senator Hope Uzodinma appears to be the prefered candidate for the governorship election.
Even the Deputy Governor of the state is determined to clinch the ticket too and a house divided against itself cannot stand.
I don’t know the rationale behind APC cancelling the election in Imo State, but the opposition may take over the state if they continue bickering.
Okorocha should not forget that he won the Imo State election with an unheralded APGA before defecting to the APC, out of greed for political power in the centre.
The people of the Southeast are yet to forgive him for the perceived betrayal and may be waiting for the opportunity being presented them in the controversies and internal wranglings of the APC in the state.
The APC should be careful and settle their issues as soon as possible, otherwise I don’t see the party winning Imo State in 2019.
Nkechinyere Moses, office assistant.
Battle of Titans In Nigeria, any party apart from the APC and PDP can be likened to mushroom parties that cannot win elections even in their backyards, so all eyes will be on the two major parties in 2019.
The supremacy battle is ongoing and even the recent winning of Ekiti and Osun by the APC cannot stop the battle of Titans in 2019.
The APC might have solved a greater number of their problems by adopting Buhari as their consensus presidential candidate in next year’s election, but the PDP is still waiting for their convention in Port Harcourt next week to settle for a particular candidate.
With Saraki, Atiku, Kwankwaso and others in the race, any candidate elected from the seasoned politicians will give the APC a run for their money.
It is going to be a battle of Titans because the PDP wants to reclaim their mandate at the centre and the APC have been bulldozing their ways and leaving many people stranded.
If INEC remains a neutral umpire, then Nigerians can sleep well with whatever outcome of the 2019 general election.
But with recent developments in the country, especially the Osun governorship rerun election that was alleged to have been characterized by intimidations, harassment and what have you, we can only hope for the best.
My advice to voters is that they should never stake their lives for any particular politician.
Let the titans do their battles in 2019 without further loss of lives.
Kabiru Mohammed, legal practitioner.
Defection looming With recent political developments in the country, politicians are ready to do anything to emerge victorious in 2019.
Buhari, Saraki, Tinubu, Atiku and many others have been pulling their weights where needed and I won’t be surprised for anything that might happen in 2019.
In fact, right now, I am expecting major defections by politicians hoping to contest in 2019, but were denied tickets in their present political parties.
Mama Taraba has already resigned from the APC and defected to a husband and wife party and many more will follow in the coming days.
It is all part of the political calculations and very normal and welcome in our democracy.
After all, it is a candidate and his or her ideology that people are interested in and not necessarily the political party he or she belongs to.
Let us all watch and see the political episodes as they play out.
Osaghae Osahon, teacher
