The People of Oyo state will on Saturday join their counterparts across the country to elect a President who will oversee the affairs of the country for the next four years.
Musliudeen Adebayo, DAILY POST correspondent in the state writes on the pattern the election will take in the state which has 5,580,894 people according to the 2006 census.
Oyo state with its headquarters in Ibadan is the former capital of the defunct Western Region. The state is divided into five geopolitical zones of Ibadan, Oyo, Ibarapa, Oke Ogun and Ogbomoso.
The presidential election billed to take place in all the 33 local government areas of the state based on an investigation by DAILY POST in the last one week indicated that the two major candidates, President Muhamadu Buhari and former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar will have the highest number of votes in the presidential election.
Though there are indications that candidates of other political parties, especially those that have presence in the state will also have some votes, it is believed that Buhari being the sitting President and Atiku who served as Vice President for eight years will record the highest number of votes.
This, according to those who spoke with our corresponded and investigation is due to the popularity of the two candidates and their political parties.
The ruling APC which was the major opposition party in 2015 had the highest number of votes during the 2015 presidential election in the state.
In the election result released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in 2015, Buhari of the APC secured 528,620 out of the 928, 606 casted votes while former President, Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP who was the sitting President then, scored 303, 376 votes in the state.
A total of 47, 254 votes were rejected in the state.
But, findings by our correspondent revealed that about two million voters out of the over 2,933,306 people with PVCs in the state will participate in this year’s election to elect either Buhari or Atiku in the state due to an increased level of political awareness since 2015.
It is generally believed that the ruling APC will mobilise its members to vote for Buhari of APC, leaving bulk of the APC for Buhari, while the PDP will mobilise its members for Abubakar, but majority of the leading opposition parties like ADC, ZLP, ADP and AD based on interaction of our correspondent with politicians will vote for the PDP candidate, Abubakar.
With this, it is likely that Atiku may have the highest number of votes in the presidential election, though, it is very difficult to predict who the people will vote for considering the party affiliation and issue of vote buying.
Though some residents of the state are of the opinion that Buhari has performed well, the feats which will make him repeat the same success as recorded in 2015, but there is a possibility that Atiku Abubakar may have the highest votes in the state due to what many of the residents described as waning influence of Buhari and his inability to fulfil some of his campaign promises.
An Ibadan-based self-employed graduate of the University of Ilorin, Mr. Richard Israel said that Buhari has lost popularity in the state, hence, Atiku Abubakar may likely have the highest number of votes in the state.
He said, “In recent time, many political analysts and observers have made a lot of assertions and submissions on Buhari winning the presidential election. And the most recent of all is that of Anap Foundation, led by Atedo Peterside, which claimed they have been in the business of conducting opinion poll since 2011 for the presidential election in Nigeria.
“The group authoritatively dispensed data, that’s in all sincerity not realistic, based on presumed achievement on the present administration without considering factors that could obliterate his chance.
“There are more than seven million Shiite Muslims that voted Buhari during the 2015 election, but today, among them, Buhari has lost his popularity. His state of mind, that evidence is in public domain, and many northerners who could read between the lines will see Yoruba promoting Buhari for their selfish interest, perhaps, Yar’adua scenario may replicate for them to take over, and it’s evident by some Yorubas responsiveness towards the election. That will truncate northerners leadership in Aso Rock. I think that was the reason The Northern Elder Forum endorsed Atiku.
“Going by the reception of events and happenings, I will say, Buhari victory is not ascertained as it’s claimed. The result would not be short of surprises. But, let’s keep our fingers crossed”.
However, a trader, Mr. Abass Babalola while speaking with DAILY POST said that the happenings in the state and the country has shown that the people of the state may likely give the bulk of their votes to the APC.
He said that the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar was once Vice President and was part of the PDP maladministration.
He said, “In my own view, If I am going to vote, I will vote for Buhari. It is possible that Buhari will win in Oyo state. The PDP candidate was part of the PDP’s 16 years administration. So there is nothing new that he wants to tell Nigerians.
Mr. Abdulmumin Olalekan who said that he will vote for Buhari added that he will vote for the APC candidate even if he will be asked to pay before he casting his vote.
He said, “It is next level. Why won’t I vote for Buhari? I have my PVC and my wife has. There are many things Buhari is doing to deserve another term. He has been repairing many things that have been destroyed.
“He has been doing good and we need to support him. It is stated in the Holy Quran that we should support whoever that is doing good things. I will vote for him even if it involves that I will pay to vote”.
APC spokesman, Dr. AbdulAzeez Olatunde while commenting on the chances of Buhari on Saturday said that president will record the highest number of votes in the state in appreciation of the feats recorded since 2015.
Olatunde said, “APC will be voted for because prior to the inception of this Buhari administration, the enrollment in public schools has not been encouraging. But the introduction of school feeding program from primary 1 to 3 has made many parents to take their wards to schools.
“APC will be voted for in Oyo State because prior to Ajimobi’s administration, Oyo state was in a state of anarchy. We witnessed daylight robberies, but since Ajimobi came, there has been no bank robberies. Security is the number one agenda of this government.
“The infrastructure in Oyo state now can be likened to the days of the Late ChiefObafemii Awolowo. In “Agriculture, this is the first government that bought 385 tractors in the state to boost agriculture. Now, Oyo state is the number one cassava producing state in Nigeria.
“So, let the opposition say what they have achieved in education. Not only that, look at the railway that has died for 30 to 40 years. It has now been revitalized. People of Oyo state will vote Buhari as a continuation of the good work. They will not vote for somebody who said that he will sell the NNPC.
“We have been educating our people to use the index finger. We have been advising them to use just the tip of the finger. This will help us reduce cancel votes. That is what we have been doing in the past three weeks”.
However, all efforts made by DAILY POST to get the State Coordinator of the Atiku Presidential Campaign Council, Dr. Nureni Adeniran since Monday have proved abortive.
Calls put through to his telephone line were not answered while messages sent to him to speak on behalf of PDP have not be replied as at the time of filing this report.
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