The bye-election conducted by the Independent National Electorate Commission (INEC) on Saturday, 19th June, to fill the vacuum created by the removal of former speaker of Kaduna state house of assembly, Abdullahi Shagali, has come and gone. What surprised many political spectators is how the ruling party which occupied the seat before suffered a resounding defeat from the opposition PDP. Since the defeat of the party there are lessons from the bye election. The opposition PDP had carefully selected a qualified candidate who gave the ruling party the run of their money. This indicates presenting a credible candidate is prerequisite to success. Interestingly, the PDP has never faltered in doing just this.
The anti-masses policies being pursued by the state government under the leadership of Governor Nasir el-Rufai must have contributed to the easy defeat of the party. Since inception governor El -Rufai has been wielding the big stick on civil servants in the name of right sizing. It is estimated that over 60,000 staff were sacked outright and their benefits denied by the state government. Added to the baggage of woes is the increase of tuition fees in the state’s higher institutions of learning by the state government. Now, a student who used to pay N26,000 as his/her tuition fees is being forced to pay N70,000 for polytechnic while almost N200,000 for the state’s university. The parents of these students who were relieved of their jobs must have used the opportunity to ensure the ruling party’s candidate lost. The defeat of the government candidate is clear testimony that the scheduled August local government elections will be keenly contested by the opposition PDP. The victory of PDP in the bye election will surely send warning signals to the ruling party by the electorate.
The Kaduna State APC should start preparing to vacate the state because their days are numbered. Nobody will risk voting them in the forthcoming LG election and 2023 general election.
Lawal Adamu Usman, Kaduna
