Ahead of the 2027 general election, the ruling All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party are seeking to take advantage of the leadership crisis rocking the Labour Party to reclaim the Federal Capital Territory senatorial seat from the incumbent lawmaker, Senator Ireti Kingibe..CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
In 2023, Kingibe floored the senator representing the FCT, Philip Aduda, of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The LP candidate garnered 202,175 votes across the five area councils where results were declared to emerge winner.
Aduda came second with 100,544 votes, while Angulu Dobi of the APC came third with 78,905 votes.
However, two years after her victory, Kingibe’s party had been balkanised with the Julius Abure’s faction and the Nenadi Usman-led National Caretaker Committee laying claim to its leadership.
Usman-led committee is backed by the 2023 LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi and Abia State Governor, Alex Otti.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has also remained silent on its position despite the recent Supreme Court judgment.
The internal wrangling further deepened leading to a number of lawmakers abandoning the LP to seek comfort in the ruling party.
Despite growing pressure amid occasional conflict with the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, Kingibe, a loyalist of Obi’s faction, has volunteered to remain in the party.
But the APC and the PDP insisted that Kingibe had overstayed her time in the Senate.
Speaking in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, the Deputy National Youth Leader of the PDP, Timothy Osadolor, said he did not see the LP senator winning the FCT in the 2027 poll.
Osadolor stated that the FCT, like the North and major parts of Nigeria, was predominantly PDP’s stronghold.
He said, “LP has lost steam and collapsed on its head. You know the current FCT senator got there on the wave of emotions and the emotions have been checkmated by the reality of time. So, everybody has gone back to the drawing board.
“What happened in the last election was that there was a strong Obidient wave amongst Nigerians, particularly the upwardly mobile youth population, who had seen the Labour Party as a credible alternative to the narrative of the APC and the PDP. So, they voted overwhelmingly for the Labour Party.
“The FCT reflects the mood of the nation. We have options and we will work out a more credible platform through this monstrosity called the APC. The PDP remains the only credible platform in the country today.”
But the National Vice Chairman (South-East) of the APC, Dr Ijeoma Arodiogbu, believed otherwise.
Arodiogbu stated that Wike’s feat in the FCT had made most residents and eligible voters to fall in love with the ruling party.
“Year 2027 is really way off to make speculation in any direction. What if Kingibe joins our party before then? There are a lot of possibilities that can play out. But what I know is that our party is gaining ground by the day across the country and the FCT is not an exception because we have a performing administration.”
“So, the APC has no worry at all about winning the FCT. We have no doubt and not under any form of pressure to win it. It’s a done deal,” he stated.
When reminded about the myth that a ruling party often has a challenge with winning presidential and senatorial seat in the FCT, Arodiogbu dispelled the notion.
He said, “That is probably because the previous ruling party had not been doing a good job. With what Wike is doing in the FCT, the experience of the inhabitants is different. They are beginning to see what the APC governance means. It has not been like that at all in the past.”
Efforts to get the FCT senator’s reaction were unsuccessful.
As of the time of filing the story, she neither picked her calls nor responded to the messages sent for clarification.
However, in an interview with our correspondent, the National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, expressed string conviction that the party would retain its seat.
“The Labour Party has organic followers. They proved that in the 2023 elections, where they won over 80 per cent of the votes in the FCT. We know the ruling party are waiting for 2027 to rig the election. I read where it was said that the president gave somebody a marching order to win the FCT.
“That is the difference between them and us. We don’t really need to buy cars for anybody or do anything to influence anybody. Before the 2027 election, there is even going to be a council election for 2026 and we have already started working house-to-house, neighbour-to-neighbour and winning over the people.
“So, it is going to be an easy ride for the Labour party. There won’t be any upset. What people call crisis in the Labour party has almost been resolved by the Supreme Court judgment, which states that parties should go and resolve their internal affairs.
“We are going to get everybody on board to hear their grievances so we can resolve them. I believe that before 2027, it would have been settled and we would move as a family to win the elections.”
On LP’s alleged frosty relationship with Kingibe, Ifoh insisted that all was well in their camp.
“No, we do not comment on speculations. A senator is a senator and she is doing her best. However, positions are democratically contested. If she wins, she will contest. You are aware we don’t give automatic tickets.
“We allow everybody freedom to contest. It is like that for every position, both the president, governors, national assembly and every other position,” he stated.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>