National Assembly Polls: winners,  losers and the political upsets

Senator Saraki and Senator Akpabio, both failed to return to the Senate                                                             Photo credit: Punch

By ADEBAYO OBAJEMU

The 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections have come and gone ,and the polls ,as usual in any political contest ,have intrigued political pundits, rendered some permutations useless and introduced new variables. There have been some unsettling political upsets, with long standing dynasties overthrown by a complex of factors as in Kwara and Akwa Ibom.
Though ,the presidential elections have proved to be a keenly contested battle between former vice president, Atiku Abubakar , and the incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari.
The contest too, has disproved the power  massive rallies have on actual election. In the weeks preceding the election proper , Atiku commanded mammoth crowds in Kano , the strongholds of Buhari.
This development, led some pundits to believe that Kano was Atiku’s for keep,but it turned out not to be so. Buhari won in Kano by landslides.
In Kwara, the fortress of Bukola Saraki, the Senate President , and political foe of the President , it was a big surprise that Buhari came out with a landslides.
The more surprising was the outcomes of National Assembly results.
In Oyo, the dream of Governor Abiola Ajumobi, to join the club of former governors who retire to the Senate was cut short, as he lost his bid for the upper chamber of National Assembly. This showed that Ajumobi though a governor and in office, he has lost control of the state to a consternation of powerful local politicians. As they say, all politics is local.
In Akwa Ibom, the famed larger than life political profile of else while godfather of the state’s politics, Godswill Akpabio  has been demystified. He lost his senatorial bid.
When Akpabio defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, it was counted within the ruling party’s circles as a big catch,capable of altering political balance in the state in their favour. It has proved to be false.
His former political son and protégé, Udo Emmanuel, who is the governor of the state  has won.
With this, it is most unlikely that Akpabio will succeed in dislodging the governor come March 9 gubernatorial polls.
The powerful Ubah family in Anambra,who has maintained a vice grip of the state since the days of President Olusegun Obasanjo have lost control to oil magnate, Ifeanyi Ubah.Ifeanyi defeated Andy Ubah in Anambra Central Senatorial race.
The biggest upset appeared to be the political Waterloo of Bukola Saraki. The Saraki family had maintained a political dynasty in the state that dated back to the late 70s unchallenged. His loss is being celebrated as liberation, and it is couched in popular slogan: ” O to ge”( Enough is enough). He lost his Kwara Central Senatorial seat to a less popular politician, Ibrahim Oloriegbe of the APC.
In Jigawa,Sule Lamido, the former governor of the state also lost his senatorial ambition.
In Benue,the former governor, George Akume ,crashed out in a crushing defeat.
In Ondo, the lion of Ondo politics, Senator Tayo Alasoadura of APC was beaten  by former member of the Senate between 2011 to 2015, Akinyelure.

As some of these big names rued their defeats,  yet, some powerful politicians survived the political “Tsunamis ” in their States.
Among the survivors is Danjuma Goje, former governor of Gombe State, who won reelection to the Senate.
The embattled governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun of APC also won his senatorial bid. Despite falling out with the leadership of his party, and sponsoring a governorship candidate in another party, he still won. Another controversial politician, who has issues with his party, APC, is governor Okorocha of Imo State. He came out victorious in his bid for the Senate, despite sponsoring his son- in- law governorship ambition in another party like Amosun.
In Kogi State, Dino Melaye , in spite of his troubles, his opposition to President Buhari, and Yahya Bello, the governor of the state , defeated  former Senator, Smart Adeyemi in Kogi West. This proved beyond reasonable doubts, that, whatever anybody says about Melaye, he has shown that he is a grassroots politician, and man of the people.