Recently I heard two friends discussing Nigerian politics as almost every Nigerian does daily. One was trying to assess the APC regime in Nigeria, for him APC has not done well.
It reminded me of a banter in one of the social media platforms where I belong, following the outcome of the off-cycle elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo, a doctor said she was surprised that APC let PDP win in Bayelsa state; giving the impression that APC, not voters, determine the outcome of elections in Nigeria today. A pharmacist responded with a rhetorical question seeking to know why APC’s victory in any election in Nigeria generates a storm of accusations of rigging and other electoral malpractices.
In a flash, the pharmacist’s question reminded me of the word on the streets and corporate world, that no logical or right-thinking person would vote APC for any office in Nigeria today in view of what the party’s reign in the past 8 years has done to the social and economic fabric of the nation. This is also coupled with the fact that Nigerian voters are known to vote based on emotions or socio-economic permutations, not ideology. This is not to say that the political parties in Nigeria operate by any ideology themselves, irrespective of their mottos.
Do people vote APC in elections in Nigeria? The surface answer will be a no. But the empirical answer is a yes, because APC is winning quite a number of elections across Nigeria and since robots and spirits do not vote, it means real humans went to the polling booth to cast their votes for APC.
In view of the fact that a great number of the Nigerian populace claim to have no positive impact from the APC regime, we can as well imagine that the people who vote APC must be card-carrying members of the party in accordance with the proverb that says “he who is rejected, does not reject himself”.
Yet it is also a fact that APC does not have the number of registered members in states or Nigeria as a whole to be the only source of its votes in elections. Even in developed countries, people vote without having to be party members.
So, the question again; how does APC win elections? We will be looking at the possible and real ways they accomplish victory, both the good, the bad and the ugly:
Vote buying is one way APC has been alleged to win lots of elections in Nigeria. Other parties buy votes too, but being in charge, APC’s money might have more grease on it which makes it move deeper and wider.
Rigging has become second nature to elections in Nigeria except in rear cases and APC has been accused repeatedly of being a major player of the game.
Strong candidates in certain areas have also influenced elections in the favour of APC. For example, in Imo state, the political capital of Hope Uzodinma as a person won him the governorship election more than the party under which he ran. Same with Ayade of Cross River and Umahi of Ebonyi when they decamped from the PDP to the APC.
Unethical campaigns are part of the game too. When gullible voters are told to vote along tribal, religious and petty sentiments. These and other ways are the routes through which elections are won in Nigeria.
I have nothing against APC, I am only speaking based on the facts on ground. People camp with the APC only because of peculiar exigencies, in fact, on a light note, I may be one of them tomorrow.
I wrote a while ago that APC is an “unfortunate party with very fortunate members”. This is because while members of the party are reaping the economic benefits of incumbency through a national system or culture that forces corruption upon its participants, the party itself will go down in history as a bad omen; except it redeems itself quickly before power leave its grip like it left its predecessor, PDP. The party has helplessly created a bad image for itself over the time of its existence, an image that is unpropagandable. The truth is that PDP and Nigeria set APC up for the fall, but it shouldn’t remain ‘down’ if its leadership will be willing to step up to the call for a drastic change from the bad norm.
