2023: Atiku, Tinubu Shift Battle Ground to Osun After PDP Suffered Serious Defeat in Ekiti Election

• The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is seeking redemption after a woeful performance in the Ekiti gubernatorial election
• PDP suffered a third-place finish behind the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC) which emerged victorious
• Meanwhile, there will be another election on Saturday, July 16 in Osun state where the PDP once used to be very dominant

Following the victory of Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the governor-elect in the just-concluded Ekiti gubernatorial election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will be seeking redemption in the forthcoming gubernatorial polls in Osun state.

The performance of the PDP in the Ekiti polls was below par considering the pedigree of the party in the state and its antecedent of producing a two-term governor before the emergence of the APC.

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Legit.ng on Sunday, June 19 in an analytical piece rolled out a post-election statistics of the Ekiti election which saw the PDP fall behind to third place falling short of even a second-place to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

How SDP surprisingly toppled PDP

The result as released by the independent electoral commission (INEC) saw the APC win the election with a total 187, 057 votes and surprisingly the SDP pulled a total 82, 211 votes for a second spot while the PDP had to settle for the third spot with a total of 67, 457 votes.

Going by this result, it is evident that the PDP has failed in its first test hurdle to test its strength in the southwest heading into the 2023 presidential election.

Many political pundits and enthusiasts have labelled the forthcoming presidential election a battle between two political titans from two strong political parties (Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar).

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Three major reasons why APC won Ekiti governorship election

What makes the 2023 election so critical is the fact that political analysts have forecasted that this might be the last chance of both Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar to have a go at the presidential seat after so many failed attempt especially on the part of Atiku.

Osun guber poll critical to PDP chances in 2023

Meanwhile, the next hurdle for the PDP is the much anticipated Saturday, July 16 governorship polls in Osun state.

Osun state used to be a stronghold of the PDP back in the day, but since the beginning of a new era of the APC, the PDP has struggled to capture the state in a long while.

According to a report by the Nigerian Tribune, the outcome of the Osun gubernatorial polls will serve as an eye opener for who stands a better chance between Tinubu and Atiku for the struggle to win southwest vote.

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Ekiti election: Final results of APC, PDP, SDP

Alleged in-house fracas cost PDP in Ekiti guber poll

The newspaper in its report also pointed out some critical factors that might have possibly led to the downfall of PDP in the Ekiti governorship polls.

It was gathered that some of the party's major big wigs were not present in Ekiti in the build-up to the Ekiti polls.

In fact, it was observed that the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar was not present in Ekiti to campaign for Kolawole, the governorship candidate of PDP.

According to sources, Atiku's unavailability was due to an in-house fracas between some of the big wigs in the party.

It was also gathered that only the APC and the SDP held a mega rally while the PDP was left hanging with a low-key rally.

Political thugs, cult groups may threaten Osun election, observers warn

Meanwhile, ahead of the 2022 gubernatorial election in Osun state, Yiaga Africa has rolled out its pre-election report.

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Ekiti 2022: 5 major factors that caused victory for APC candidate, Oyebanji

Yiaga Africa in its report raised an alarm over a possible cult or political thug attack during the election.

The group also noted that there is a high rise in voter inducement activities in the state with N5000 as the least amount per voter.

2023 election: Allegations of extortion in CVR Centers by INEC officials emerge

In another development, Yiaga Africa calls on the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the CVR exercise by three weeks.

It also called for investigation of allegations of bribery and non-deployment of personnel in some Registration Centers.

Commends INEC for deploying additional 209 machines to Kano, Lagos, and five states in the Southeast.

Source: Legit.ng