Fallout Out Of Elections: APC Works On Low Turn Out Ahead 2027 Poll

Despite its victory in recent governorship election in Ekiti State and other bye elections to vacant national Assembly seats,the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is using templates from the exercises to determine level of preparedness for the next year’s general elections.

The elections saw APC leading, but number of votes scored compared with registered voters in those areas were apart.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted by-elections in six states. 

The APC won five of the contests, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) retained the Rivers South East Senatorial seat through its candidate, Olaka Nwogu.

In Ondo South, former President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Prof. Dayo Faduyile, won the election with 68,474 votes, defeating the Allied People’s Movement (APM) candidate, Adeolu Akinwumi, who polled 1,411 votes.

Party sources revealed that the bye-elections, alongside the recent Ekiti governorship election and the forthcoming August 15 Osun governorship poll, are being treated by the APC as indicators of its readiness for the 2027 elections.

APC had boasted of scoring 500,000 votes in the June 20 poll but led others with a little well over 300,000 votes. The number of register voters in the state, according to INEC record stands at 988,923, while 720,724 collected their voters’ cards for the election.

A source at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the leadership had begun a comprehensive review of the elections to identify strengths and areas requiring improvement.

According to the source, the Ondo South result attracted particular attention because of the low voter turnout, despite the district being the senatorial district of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa and the APC facing no formidable opposition.

The source noted that fewer than 70,000 votes were cast by all parties, compared with the 2023 senatorial election in which the APC candidate, Jimoh Ibrahim, secured 110,665 votes while the PDP’s Agboola Ajayi polled 65,784 votes.