The 2019 presidential election has come and gone, bar the state-by-state results which are coming up gradually as arranged by INEC from the collation centre at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.
Aside the national results, a few strange trends have been noticed in this election. One of them came from Aso Rock, the seat of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
In 2011 when Ovation publisher Dele Momodu contested for the presidency in Nigeria, a strange thing occurred on election day.
The candidate was said to have gone to the polling booth with his wife, family, friends and supporters with a lot of pomp and circumstance. However, at the end of the day when the votes were counted, he got one vote. One single vote.
As the presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party, NCP, Dele Momodu lost the election at his Ward 10 unit 24 at Wasimi Community High School where he cast his vote.
The results then showed that the PDP polled 177 votes, CPC 65, ACN 41 and NCP 1 vote. So Dele Momodu got just one single vote!
So what happened to the retinue that went with him? Did they vote for someone else? And why would they do that? Even if they were sure he would not win, they could at least have humoured him and respect his person as someone whom they claimed to ‘support’.
I am not sure what Dele Momodu did to those fair weather relatives and friends but he has to have a heart of gold to laugh it off.
Well, an almost similar scenario seemed to have played out in last Saturday’s presidential election. It has been reported that the votes counted for the polls at Aso Rock did not favour the chief occupant of that famous place. It was also strange to the electoral officials so much so that they had to do a recount to be sure there was no error.
In the end, the final numbers that came up were like what surfaced in the Federal Capital Territory where the APC candidate Buhari, the incumbent president lost to the PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar.
PDP scored a total of 1,030 in the two units at Aso Villa while APC got a total of 1,013 at the units.
This is not the first time an incumbent is losing at the polls at the seat of power in Abuja as immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan also lost election at the State House Polling Units.
However, this loss by President Buhari seemed strange to the election officials hence the recount they were said to have done.
If the president is returned to office on 29th May 2019, should he be suspicious of those his staff who are smiling at him but voting against him? Or should he take it like Dele Momodu must have done eight years ago and move on?
Image credit: pulse.ng
Ogie Eboigbe, veteran journalist, broadcaster and public affairs specialist writes and analyses current and historical issues with a ‘wise pen’.
I don’t agree with your submission on the outcome of the result in Aso Rock election.The difference is not significant. It’s only 17 votes. Besides, those who voted against PMB may not be working in the Villa anymore. Maybe, they registered there and had no other choice but vote there. Besides, there is nothing new in a family divided in political matters. There are situations where husband’s, wives and children have different political leanings. This case is not worthy of mention.
I think you miss the point mainly because you think the post is directed at your principal which is not the case here. The headline alone should tell you that we are discussing a trend, not one isolated case. Hope you see the recall of how it also went during Jonathan’s tenure when he also lost at the Villa booths.