Nigerians hit the polling booths again today, this time to elect Governors in 29 states and Assembly men in all the 36 states. Councillors will be elected in the Federal Capital Territory.
Just like two weeks ago during the presidential elections, we expect voters to go out and vote for their preferred candidates.
However, there is much tension in the land over the war drums which have been beaten in words by some politicians.
The situation is not helped by the militarisation of several states where the army has become quite visible on the streets.
These two factors may affect the turn out of voters for today’s polls. The fear of violence from organised thugs and intimidation by security agents may prompt many to stay at home in this all important election which to some people is even more crucial than the presidential poll because state governors and houses of assembly members are closer to the people in the various localities.
The day before the presidential election saw mass movement of people to their states and hometowns to vote where they registered. Such movement has not been much this time around when it was really expected.
Secondly, driving out this morning around 5.30am to relocate to our polling area for the day did not provide much comfort that others were doing the same; there were more vehicles on the road between 5am and 6am on presidential election day than today.
Does it mean many people who made the trip the last time did not do so today? That will be very sad indeed. It means that the plan by some politicians to ensure low voter turnout so as to favour them has worked and some people are wary of being caught up in any violent situation, especially in the militarised areas.
The Chief of Army Staff and Inspector-General of Police have individually assured that their agencies would not interfere in the polls and that they are there to provide security. We hope that all their operatives know this and will not allow themselves to be used to scuttle the elections.
Voters should not let themselves be intimidated by unscrupulous politicians who have been beating war drums, chanting war songs and heating up the polity or the visibility of the security agents.
Let us all go out there and vote our consciences so that we can have men and women who will lead us through these trying times.
Remember, gubernatorial elections will only hold in 29 out of the 36 states of the federation today, Saturday 9th March.
Governorship elections in the remaining seven states were staggered and had already been conducted off season.
However, apart from governorship election in 29 states, all the 36 states of the federation will elect state assembly members while in the Federal Capital Territory, there will be area council elections.
The seven states where governorship election will not hold are Edo, Bayelsa, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Anambra and Kogi.
On the whole, there are 1, 066 candidates for the governorship elections, 14, 583 for the state assembly elections and 806 for the FCT Area Council elections broken down into 105 chairmanship candidates and 701 councillorship candidates.
So whether you are in so-called flashpoint states like Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Ogun and Rivers or it is Sokoto, Taraba and Katsina you are located, go out and vote. You cannot blame anyone later if wrong persons are elected when you refused to stand up for your rights and be counted.
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Ogie Eboigbe, veteran journalist, broadcaster and public affairs specialist writes and analyses current and historical issues with a ‘wise pen’.
