The results of an independent polls conducted by Atedo N.A Peterside (ANAP) Foundation and Ngozi Okonjo Iweala (NOI) polls have enlivened Kwara State’s politics.
Before the results of the independent poll on how voters are likely to vote in the governorship election come 2023 was made public, there was a disturbing lull in the state’s political environment.
The gubernatorial candidates of the six political parties – APC, PDP, YPP, SDP, NNPP and AA were yet to commence campaigns ahead of the election that is just about three months away.
Though the gubernatorial candidate of the APC who doubles as the incumbent governor of the state, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has in the last three weeks engaged the electorate through a series of town hall meetings, his party, the APC, has yet to announce its campaign schedules.
The ANAP poll, in its interim report aired on Channels Television puts Governor AbdulRazaq ahead of other gubernatorial candidates in the state.
Immediately the poll’s result was announced, the opposition parties rose stoutly against the organisers of the poll, discrediting them as well as the outcome of the poll.
Expectedly, the ruling APC whose candidate was favoured by the ANAP’s poll rolled out the drums to celebrate.
It described the rejection of the result of the poll by the opposition parties as ‘belly-aching’.
The APC’s reaction was contained in a statement signed by its publicity secretary, Tajudeen Aro.
The statement partly reads:
“ While we welcome the result of the polls as a confirmation of the hard work of our exemplary hovernor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in the last three and half years, we note that the results is a way too short of the projections of our pollsters who have predicted a crushing defeat of the opposition parties who have been holding nuctunal meetings on a possible gang-up against the Governor.
“We have no iota of doubt that 99 percent of those labelled as undecided voters are those who will vote for Governor AbdulRazaq in the 2023 Governorship Election. We sympathize with the opposition parties especially the Peoples Democratic Party who have been dazed with the outcome of the polls. This is a party whose leaders should bury their heads in shame because the only legacy they have in the state is that of pilferage ,outright stealing of public funds and impunity .
“The PDP, lately, has been working very hard to deceive the public that it has turned a new leaf following its removal from power in 2019 but we know that a leopard will never change its skin.
“We are also amused by the PDP’s perpetual headache about commissioning of projects by our administration when the projects are visible and acknowledged by the people themselves.
“Unlike the PDP propaganda of commissioning and publicizing fake and non- existing projects on radio, we are excited and impressed by the compliments and feedback by stakeholders and people of Kwara and their common consensus of commendation to Governor AbdulRazaq on the projects in the 16 local governments and 193 wards in the state.
“The PDP has also been spreading falsehood about the loan obtained by the administration. We challenge the PDP to explain how the state is indebted to the tune of N51 Billion. It is ridiculous for the PDP to demand that the whole of N27.5 billion bond obtained for building of infrastructure be paid in advance to contractors handling various projects in the State.
“We observed that the PDP falshoods against the administration are being published on blogs and their Watsapp groups, we challenge the rejected PDP to publish the false graft claims against the Government in credible newspapers and electronic media and see whether they would not face criminal defamation and excruciating damages
The difference between the AbdulRazaq administration and the inglorious PDP regime is like daylight and darkness.The people of Kwara can see the difference.”
But, in a swift reaction, the director general of the PDP Governorship Campaign Council in the state, Prof. Ali Ahmad, described the opinion poll regarding next year’s governorship election in Kwara as baseless, laughable and far from reality.
The Campaign Council said it could not waste it’s precious time brooding over the results of a “warped opinion poll conducted by an organisation that is popularly known for its usual bogus claims and inaccurate projections judging by previous opinion polls by ANAP.”
Ahmad, in a statement, queried the credibility of “ANAP foundation” and its modus operandi.
He accused “ANAP Foundation” of colluding with theAPC bandwagon of sycophants to deceive Governor AbdulRazaq, adding that, “it is not surprising because this is the season of “political endorsement”, deceit, sycophancy and self-aggrandizement.
Ahmad insisted that the PDP remains the most popular political party, and “we are firmly on course to take over power from the APC administration in Kwara State. We will not be distracted by the shenanigans of any fly by night pollsters”.
Also reacting, the Young Progressives Party (YPP) said the result of ANAP poll was not good enough for the APC.
The party’s publicity secretary, Oyewole Oladele said, “the result is not a good news for AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq”, adding that, “an independent poll of gubernatorial candidates across select states in Nigeria released on Channels TV flagship show, Politics Today shows incumbent Governor AbdulRazaq in a shaky lead ahead of the 2023 elections.
“Kwara YPP notes that its governorship candidate, Alhaji Yakub Gobir stands the chance of winning next year’s governorship election due to his wide acceptability across 16 local government areas of the state,” he said.
The SDP and NNPP, in separate statements, also distanced themselves and their governorship candidates, Hakeem Lawal and Prof Shuaib AbdulRaheem respectfully from the ANAP poll.
So far, polls like this seem to have gained prominence in the political space. But whether it will materialise on election day is another matter.
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