Today, 3rd February, for the first time in 20 years, Surulere 1 Federal Constituency will get a representative whose name is not Femi Gbajabiamila.
Gbajabiamila, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, resigned from the House in June following his appointment as the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.
Fourteen (14) candidates will slug it out to fill the seat. They include Akinyemi Da-Sliva (Accord), Kayode Jelili (Action Alliance), Collins Aigbokhaode (African Democratic Congress); Fuad Laguda (All Progressives Congress); Jonathan Ololade (All Progressives Grand Alliance); and Samuel Ekwuruke (Allied People’s Movement).
Others are Yinusa Adisa (Action People’s Party), Adeola Adebanjo (Labour Party), Jerry Afemighie (Peoples Democratic Party); Muyiwa Adedeji (Social Democratic Party); Oluwole Austine Brito (Young Progressive Party) and Emereole Anthony (Zenith Labour Party).
The battle is expected to be a three-horse race between Laguda of the APC, Adebanjo of LP and Afemighie of the PDP.
Obident vs APC
In a big upset during the last election, the Labour Party defeated the ruling APC during the presidential election and caused major upsets in some federal constituencies like Eti-Osa.
Analysts believe that the upset was powered by the popularity of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party.
The former Anambra Governor was able to energize young people who trooped out, and not only challenged the APC machinery but won the election against Bola Tinubu.
But with Obi not on the ballot, many believe that the Labour Party may not mobilize as they did during the presidential election.
It would be recalled that the Labour Party, without Obi on the ballot, was unable to replicate the presidential election feat during the governorship election.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu polled 762,134 votes to defeat Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the LP who polled 312,329 votes. In the process, the incumbent governor won 19 out of the 20 local governments in the state.
Gbajabiamila’s performance
The Federal Constituency is littered with projects facilitated by the former Speaker. They include roads, hospitals, schools, mini stadia and other notable projects.
Some weeks ago, Mr Gbajabiamila still commissioned several projects in the constituency, fueling speculations that the ex-legislator may have his eye set on the governorship of the state.
“When it comes to Gbajabiamila, people forget about APC. Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa- we just look at the projects,” Tosin Ayanfe, a food vendor in Ojuelegba told DAILY POST.
Mr Gbajabiamila appears to have been able to use projects to win the hearts of lots of people in the constituency.
Despite the ethnic demography of Surulere Local Government, Tinubu won it by a slim margin during the presidential election. Many believe that it was due to the performance of Gbajabiamila in the local government.
In his own election, Mr Gbajabiamila got 19,717 votes, while Jeje of the Peoples Democratic Party came second with 5,121 votes.
The 3rd February election may be about the performance of Gbajabiamila rather than what Laguda is going to do as a lawmaker.
Voter apathy and confusion
Voters are going to have a major challenge on 3rd February due to the complicated nature of the constituency.
Surulere Local Government is divided into two. Surulere I and Surulere II Federal Constituencies. Many voters in Surulere may opt to stay indoors due to the confusion as to their specific constituency within the local government.
“Some of us came to vote specifically for the presidential election in 2023, so senatorial and House of Representatives elections were more or less not the real intent,” Ifeanyi Nwogu, a bookseller around Yaba told DAILY POST.
“Most of us don’t even know where the division is as far as the constituencies are concerned,” Mr Nwogu added.
Political parties may depend on structures and machinery to mobilize people to vote.
This is one area the APC has a considerable edge in this election. The party controls the local government, state and federal positions.
On 3rd February, for the first time in 20 years, Surulere 1 Federal Constituency will get a representative whose name is not Femi Gbajabiamila.
Gbajabiamila, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, resigned from the House in June following his appointment as the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.
On 3rd February, 14 candidates will slug it out to fill the seat. They include Akinyemi Da-Sliva (Accord), Kayode Jelili (Action Alliance), Collins Aigbokhaode (African Democratic Congress); Fuad Laguda (All Progressives Congress); Jonathan Ololade (All Progressives Grand Alliance); and Samuel Ekwuruke (Allied People’s Movement).
Others are Yinusa Adisa (Action People’s Party), Adeola Adebanjo (Labour Party), Jerry Afemighie (Peoples Democratic Party); Muyiwa Adedeji (Social Democratic Party); Oluwole Austine Brito (Young Progressive Party) and Emereole Anthony (Zenith Labour Party).
In this analysis, Daily Post reviews some of the factors that may tilt the election towards the ruling APC despite the economic challenges facing the country.
The battle is expected to be a three-horse race between Laguda of the APC, Adebanjo of LP and Afemighie of the PDP.
Obident vs APC
In a big upset during the last election, the Labour Party defeated the ruling APC during the presidential election and caused major upsets in some federal constituencies like Eti-Osa.
Experts believe that the upset was powered by the popularity of the Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party. The former Anambra Governor was able to energized young people who trooped out, and not only challenged the APC machinery but won the election against Bola Tinubu.
But with Obi not on the ballot, many believe that Labour Party may not be able to mobilize as they did during the presidential election.
It would be recalled that the Labour Party, without Obi on the ballot, was unable to replicate the presidential election feat during the governorship election.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu polled 762,134 votes to defeat Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the LP who polled 312,329 votes. In the process, the incumbent governor won 19 out of the 20 local governments in the state.
Performance of Gbajabiamila
The Federal Constituency is littered with projects facilitated by the former Speaker. They include roads, hospitals, schools, mini stadia and other notable projects.
Some weeks ago, Mr Gbajabiamila still commissioned several projects in the constituency, fueling speculations that the ex-legislator may have his eye set on the governorship of the state.
“When it comes to Gbajabiamila, people forget about APC. Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa—we just look at the projects,” Tosin Ayanfe, a food vendor in Ojuelegba told Daily Post.
Mr Gbajabiamila appears to have been able to use projects to win the hearts of lots of people in the constituency.
Despite the ethnic demography of Surulere Local Government, Tinubu won it by a slim margin during the presidential election, many believe that it was due to the performance of Gbajabiamila in the local government.
In his own election, Mr Gbajabiamila got 19,717 votes, while Jeje of the Peoples Democratic Party came second with 5,121 votes.
The 3rd February election may be about the performance of Gbajabiamila rather than what Laguda is going to do as a lawmaker.
Voters Apathy and confusion
Voters are going to have a major challenge on 3rd February due to the complicated nature of the constituency.
Surulere Local Government is divided into two. Surulere I and Surulere II Federal Constituencies. Many voters in Surulere may opt to set indoors due to the confusion as to their specific constituency within the local government.
“Some of us came it to vote specifically for the presidential election in 2023, so senatorial and House of Representatives elections were more of less not the real intent,” Ifeanyi Nwogu, a bookseller around Yaba told Daily Post.
“Most of us don’t even know where the division is as far as the constituencies are concerned,” Mr Nwogu added.
Political parties may depend on structures and machinery to mobilize people to vote, this is one area the APC has a considerable edge in this election. The party controlled the local government, state and federal positions.
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