The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area council polls held on the 16th of March, 2013, might have come and gone. It’s ripple effects are still reverberating across the territory with losers sucking their wounds and winners consolidating on their victories.

The election which also served as litmus test for the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed ahead of his rumoured 2015 governorship ambition in Bauchi State, many believe ridiculed the ability of the newly-formed All Progressive Congress (APC) to wrest power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). During the series of campaigns in the months leading to the election, the FCT Minister, Senator Bala had boasted that the PDP was going to bury the opposition. He went further to describe the party as stillbirth.

He had stated: “This election is between me and the so called APC and on March 16 you will see how we are going to bury that so called still born that has no eyes, no ears, no sense, is just a political liability,” In spite of the lean chances of the PDP, Bala’s prophecy that the opposition will be buried appeared to have come into fruition. At the end of the keenly contested polls, PDP clinched 5 out of the 6 chairmanship seats, while majority of the counselor-ship positions were also taken by the party.

Series of efforts by the opposition leaders, mainly Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to garner support for their candidates proved abortive. Former FCT Minister, Nasir el-Rufai and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Bello Masari made frantic efforts to galvanise votes for their party. For several weeks, they visited virtually all the six Area Councils in FCT in solidarity with their party’s candidates. The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) were not left out as their leaders also stormed every nook and cranny of the territory.

Many however believe that the inability of the opposition parties to prevail on their candidates to shelve their personal political ambition for the general good of the party cost the opposition two of the chairmanship seats in FCT. In Bwari Area Council for instance, the opposition would have clinched the chairmanship seat if the ACN candidate had agreed to step down for the CPC scribe who many believe was more popular. PDP candidate defeated the CPC candidate with less than 100 votes.

Similar disagreement also cost the opposition another chairmanship seat in Kwali Area Council. Although the council poll has no semblance with the possible outcome of 2015 general elections, many political pundits believe personal ambitions of opposition leaders will truncate efforts by the new APC to oust the PDP as exhibited in the recently concluded FCT council polls. Beyond the mockery of the opposition by the ruling PDP, the turnout of the electorate during the poll was terrible. In many parts of the polling units visited in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), residents who were restricted to their immediate environments were seen going about their normal duties. Some young men were seen playing football in open fields.

Although accreditation of voters was billed to commence at about 8am, staffers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) didn’t show up at the different polling units in AMAC until10am. Election materials were also delayed for over two hours in some polling units as voters waited endlessly under the unbearable sun. The Life Camp area which the official residence of the FCT minister is located, witnessed low-voter turn out. There were just three voters at the polling station in what was a glaring case of voter apathy when Daily Sun visited Government Secondary School, Gwarimpa, Life Camp, the major polling centre in the minister’s neighbourhood. The three voters who were on queue to get accredited were most likely the first set of voters as at 11am when our correspondent visited, as all four polling boots had no occupants and the accompanying four ballot boxes were empty.

Complete article below:

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/politics/fct-council-poll-how-pdp-buried-opposition/

But they are 'winning' na on TWITTER, facebook, bbm, etc... Bunch of NOISEMAKERS