Adedokun Waliyu 
With the conclusion of the governorship poll in Ekiti State on Saturday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are poised for total showdown in a similar poll coming up on July 16, 2022 in Osun State.
The exercise is another highpoint of years of the scramble and test of strength by the two parties in the South-West, known for swaying victories during national elections, due to its huge voting population.
By the defeat in Ekiti, the PDP may have been technically knocked out in the battle for dominance in the South-West ahead of the 2023 elections This is reinforced by the fact that the Osun poll is the last off-season major election preceding the general election that will be taking place in the country.
While the APC and its presidential candidate, Senator Bola Tinubu will be out to consolidate their grip on Osun politics, the PDP and its standard-bearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar will attempt to win the state for them to remain in strong contention in the South-West in the 2023 general election.
The outcome of the Ekiti election, in which the PDP came third behind the APC and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) among the 16 parties that fielded candidates, meant the APC was able to retain five out of the six states in the SouthWest.
However, the turnout of voters was an outcry, given the number of registered of voters in Ekiti, coupled with similar polls in the past.
According to the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC), a total of 989, 224 voters had their names on the commission’s register prior to the Saturday exercise.
But only 360,753 voters decided the fate of all the 16 candidates unlike four years ago when a total of 403,451 voters participated out of the 909,585 registered voters in the state.
The result of the election announced by INEC showed that the candidate of the APC, Abayomi Biodun Oyebanji polled 187,057 votes with his closest rival, chief Segun Oni of the SDP scoring 82,211 votes, while the standard-bearer of the PDP, Chief Bisi Kolawole securing 67,457 votes.
In the meantime, preparations for the Osun poll have progressed steadily with the INEC releasing the list of candidates and their running mates for poll.
The outcome of next month’s poll in the state, coupled with that of Ekiti held on Saturday has implications for the chances of the candidates of the two parties in the February 25, 2023 presidential election.
However, the possibility of the parties forging alliances with other parties with measurable strength and capacity is not ruled in the bid by the PDP in particular to make an impact at the general election in across the geopolitical zones in the country.
It was observed that none of the major stakeholders in the PDP was on the ground to galvanise the electioneering of the candidate in the buildup to the Ekiti election.
However, at the last minute, the PDP national only set up an 81-man PDP National campaign Council with the governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, as the chairman.
But neither the governor nor any other prominent member of the team was in the state before the election, despite the seeming face-saving effort initiated on June 9.
Contrary to all expectations, PDP presidential candidate did not visit Ekiti to rally support for Kolawole for the election.
Sources within the PDP blamed alleged infighting among the major power brokers in the party for the turn of events in the opposition party before and after the election.
While the party could not hold any major rally in Ekiti to shore up the chances of its candidate for the election, both the APC and the SDP organised separate grand rallies to round off their campaigns for the poll.
