Third Force Emergence in Doubt as Peter Obi, Kwankwaso’s Parties Score Less Than 1% in Osun Poll
By Ozumi Abdul
The much-talked-about emergence of third force in the Nigerian political scene has come under increasing scrutiny in the wake of the results of the just concluded gubernatorial election in Osun state.
While the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ademola Adeleke, won the election with 403,371 (50.14%), the incumbent, Gboyega Oyetola, of the All Progressive Congress (APC) polled 375,027, (46.62%) to come a close second, none of the smaller parties came anywhere close, according to the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday morning.
While the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has been touted in some quarters to be the Messiah who would change the status quo by dislodging PDP and APC in 2023, the party’s candidate in the Saturday poll, Hon Lasun Yusuf, a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, scored a meager 2,729 votes.
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Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigeria’s People Party (NNPP) which has a vociferous support base in Kano and few northwest states also participated in the Osun gubernatorial election and it’s candidate, Razak Oyelami Saliu, scored 393 votes.
The two parties whose presidential candidates have been enjoying a lot of social media goodwill and frenzy from mainly virtual supporters polled the total number of 3,122 out of the total number of valid vote cast which was put at 804,456.
According to in-house calculations done by POLITICS DIGEST team of analysts, the combined votes of LP and NNPP are far less than 1% of the total number of valid votes.
This statistics will cast a lot of doubt regarding the readiness of the so-called third force movements to dislodge the two biggest parties within the next six months when the general elections will commence.
Even the Social Democratic Party (SDP), whose candidate, Segun Oni, came a respectable second in the June 18 Ekiti gubernatorial poll, performed abysmally in Osun on Saturday. The SDP candidate, Akin Omigbogun, scored a meagre 515 votes.
If the 515 SDP votes are added to that of LP and NNPP, the total will still be far below 1% of the total valid votes in Osun.
This reality suggests that the overwhelming dominance of the two major parties is an ongoing reality.
