Opinion: APC’s Victory is also Partly Due to Atiku and Obi Cancelling Each Other Out.

he much anticipated Presidential election in Nigeria had now come and gone with the APC flag bearer, Bola Tinubu declared by the electoral umpire in Nigeria, INEC as the President-elect.

Nevertheless, arguments, bitterness and disaffection have continued to trail the outcome of the election as announced early morning of Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Due to the slight margin that separated the results of the election as polled by the three major contenders, such disaffection is bound to happen.

Unlike 2015, when the then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan quickly accepted defeat and congratulated Muhammadu Buhari to offset imminent crisis, none of the Presidential candidates of the PDP and LP has seen any goodwill to follow the same path.

They, to be fair, cannot be blamed for their resolution as they must have their reasons.

Looking at the reality on ground. Was there an open rigging by the winning party and candidate?

Can we also put the blame on the absence of cooperation between Atiku and Obi, Atiku and Kwankwaso, Obi and Kwankwaso, or even between the three altogether, as being insinuated in some quarters, as the last straw that broke the camel’s back as far the failures of the trio were concerned?

No one could unravel either of the two probabilities above with the precision they demand because the data or information to do so is not available to the electorate, who are most concerned.

Nevertheless, analyzing the first argument, it could be said that the political savviness of Bola Tinubu displayed over the years, which have occasionally attracted such insinuations to his doorsteps could have been a factor why people are holding such opinion.

The people have also accused INEC, as an electoral body carrying the “independent” tag, of bias over the salient issue.

This has been supported by the evidenced delay in uploading the results of the election through the BVAS machines from the polling units into the INEC’s server in some units. Added to that is the fact that it is the ruling party APC, which won the election. Such outcry might have not occured had it been either PDP or LP emerged victorious. It seems easier to believe that the incumbent party in power had used the opportunity to give undue advantage to their candidate to keep the Presidential seat, than it is, to argue that the opposition parties had sold out with INEC.

On the other side of the coin. When the way the results of the election finally panned out is critically assessed, one could have a cause to believe things might have turned out differently, had the trio of Atiku, Obi and Kwankwaso either stepped down for one another, or worked for a common goal.

Put together, the three had about 15 million votes which was higher than what gave the APC victory (8.8 million votes).

The proponents of this argument are saying had the PDP fielded Obi rather than Atiku in the spirit of national character or power zoning, all Atiku’s votes would have gone to Obi. Same, if Obi had also stepped down for Atiku without running through another party’s ticket.

Some take it from another angle that, Kwankwaso actually wasted Obi or Atiku’s votes with the 1.4 million he got, which eventually took him nowhere. That, if that is added to Atiku’s tally of 6.9 million, it could have taken him neck and neck with APC’s total tally.

This opinion went further, if Atiku had gloriously left the stage and chosen to back Obi, the LP would have cleared up the whole of South East and South South, added to Lagos, Abuja, and few states in the North Central to coast home.

These arguments somehow looked weighty on the face value. However, would Obi, if one may ask, have landed PDP ticket ahead of Wike during the Primary?

Would Obi have also won Kano in a landslide, if Kwankwaso had supported him or would APC have rather won the state?

Arguments like these would always have a place, when the vanquished in a landmark competition like the Presidential election of 200 million people currently struggling on their feet, feel, out of pains, things could have gone their way.

Whichever the case may be, it is another learning curve for the political actors and Nigerians in general. An eye opener, especially for the candidates, that they could be more tactical by putting national interest ahead of selfish gains.

The inadequate level of faith in the decisions or proceedings of the highest court of the land is another factor, which is covertly extending the lamentations of those who are disaffected. In the developed world, their court system have history of resetting matters like this, unlike what we have in our own parts of the world. 

Having said that, Nigerians are quite keen on the apex court doing its best to resolve the logjam, which is why the disaffected parties should seek appropriate redress. This is civil and civilization rolled into one and best of luck to them as they make attempts.

Apparently, good governance, fairness to all, economic growth and prosperity, direct access to governance and its agencies, and higher standard of living for all and sundry are magic wands capable of dousing the whole tension and renewing the lost confidence.

We hope the President-elect and his backers share the same resolves in the days and years to come.