How ANPP swept Borno LG poll

Ali SheriffMany factors combined to give the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) victory in the just-concluded local government election in Borno State, writes James Bwala.

Prior to the April 26, 2008 local government election in Borno State, the Nigerian Tribune had gathered from some political party officials other than the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) that there may not be a level playing ground for all candidates and political parties in the election.

According to some of them who preferred anonymity, not even the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which seemed to have the strength to confront the ANPP would be able to match the might of the Borno ANPP at the moment. They said Governor Ali Sheriff had promised a level playing ground in their last meeting with him but none of them told the governor that what he told them was the opposite of the reality.

With the low turnout for the LG election and its peaceful conduct, citizens of the state had observed that this did not mean it was hitch-free. But from all indications, the last LG election in Borno can best be described as something that government and all other relevant stakeholders had already agreed upon on how the election should be held.

As the Borno State Independent Electoral Commission (BOSIEC) released the election results, the ANPP won the chairmanship position in the 27 local government areas of the state. It also won 302 councillorship seats while the Action Congress (AC) had one seat in Askira/Uba Local Government and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won five councillorship seats.

Observers who monitored the election told newsmen that it was peaceful in all the places they visited. They said the conduct of the election was quite commendable as there were no violence and complaints. Responding to the conduct of the election, however, Chairman of the Borno State chapter of the PDP, Alhaji Baba Basharu, said the election was full of violence in all the 27 local government areas in the state. Alhaji Basharu said the PDP would not accept the result released by BOSIEC as the true result of the election.

Although PDP did not say that it will challenge the election result, Nigerian Tribune gathered that its position on the election was informed by the belief among its members that they may not get justice from the tribunal. However, the party insisted that it won election in a place like Hawul, claiming that this was why there was delay in the announcement of the result. In Chibok Local Government, PDP alleged that it won the election but that violence ensued and properties worth millions of naira were destroyed just to give ANPP the lead. “For Askira/Uba Local Government as well as Gwoza Local Government the situation was bad,” Basharu said.

A cross section of voters in Gwange, Mari, Bullumkttu, Bolori, Shehuri and Gomari wards of Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, mostly supporters of the PDP and AC, told the Nigerian Tribune during the election that they came out to vote for their preferred candidates but that they knew from the beginning that their candidates would not win due to what was going on at the polling centres. Many of them alleged that political thugs belonging to the ruling ANPP threatened people, arguing that this gave them the impression that any attempt from them to react to what their eyes saw may result to violence.

When the Nigerian Tribune spoke with some supporters of the ANPP, they said that even amongst them (the voters) there were party differences; therefore, it was not surprising that those of them that were not supporters of the ruling party would not say anything good about the ANPP and the outcome of the election. They further argued that critics of ANPP should consider the fact that only the ANPP campaigned at the grass roots before the election. They said whereas PDP members campaigned in a few places, members of the ANPP went to every nook and cranny of the state. The ANPP seemed to have enjoyed the advantage of incumbency and constant touch with the people at the grassroots.