2027: Enugu, Southeast And Consequences Of Vote-Splitting
By Samson Ezea
At the grand finale of the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign for the just-concluded local government elections in Enugu State, held at Amagunze, the headquarters of Nkanu East Local Government Area, Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah advised, appealed to, and cautioned the people against the practice of vote-splitting in the 2027 general elections.
The Governor urged the people not to be deceived or misled by anyone into voting for different political parties across various levels of the ballot.
Rather, he called on them to vote for and support the APC from top to bottom to ensure that the party’s candidates receive their votes at every level.
The Governor’s call was not only salutary, imperative, timely, and necessary, but also highly strategic and significant, particularly in view of the political realities and challenges confronting Enugu State and the Southeast region ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Indeed, the issue of vote-splitting deserves serious consideration, as the choices voters make across different levels of government could have far-reaching consequences for political representation, policy coordination, development, and the overall interests of the state and the Southeast region.
With this, it is obvious that those promoting, proposing, and encouraging vote-splitting in Enugu State and the Southeast region ahead of the 2027 general elections, especially within the ruling APC, are enemies of the state and the region. They are moles and “snakeholders” who never meant well for the overall interest of the state and zone who deserve severe punishment if caught.
When one sees or hears them trying to justify their conspiracy and treachery against the APC-led government in hushed tones, they will tell you that they will vote their conscience and for individuals, not the party, intentionally and pretentiously forgetting that political parties contest elections, not individuals. They behave as if party supremacy is non-existent and ineffective. This is hypocrisy and treachery at its peak, which many political parties and governments are intolerant of.
In a democracy, party supremacy and loyalty are sacrosanct and inevitable. Apart from Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah’s move to the APC and its numerous accompanying benefits and advantages to the state in the area of massive infrastructural development and effective collaboration between Enugu State and the Federal Government since then, Governor Mbah’s numerous unprecedented and landmark achievements across different sectors of the state economy are enough to earn him seamless and smooth re-election. These achievements and progressive development have helped to recover the lost glory of the state and placed it on the global map.
Meanwhile, with the implied zoning arrangement of the governorship seat in the state among the three senatorial zones, Governor Mbah stands a better chance and deserves re-election.
While those from Governor Mbah’s senatorial zone who are jostling, hibernating, and grandstanding to contest the governorship seat against Governor Mbah in 2027 are eminently qualified in their own standards and estimation, Governor Mbah has a wider edge and greater advantages over them.
Neither the majority of the people of Enugu North Senatorial Zone nor the people of Enugu West Senatorial District will be a party to the disruption of the zoning of the governorship seat in the state by supporting any of the opposing candidates from Governor Mbah’s senatorial district who are jostling for the position.
That does not mean that some desperadoes, cynics, sceptics, conspirators, and dissidents among them who sceptics, who have been covertly promoting and encouraging vote-splitting and betrayal ahead of the 2027 general elections will not carry out their political machinations. But the question is: will such acts deny Governor Mbah’s re-election? The answer is No.
If this political chicanery and conspiracy could fail those behind it in the 2023 election, when Governor Mbah was not an incumbent governor, who says, and what makes them feel, that they will succeed now that Governor Mbah is the poster boy of good governance in Nigeria and has justified the confidence Enugu people reposed in him by electing him against all odds and obvious conspiracies in 2023?
Just as Governor Mbah said recently, let nobody deceive or mislead anyone with vote-splitting propaganda, because it is dead on arrival and not in the overall interest of the state. It is for the selfish interest of a few minorities who shall find their way back to the ruling party when they lose.
For the people of the Southeast region, their case is not much different from the Enugu scenario. Of note is the fact that the number of votes delivered by the region to the ruling APC, which is likely to win the 2027 presidential election, as has even been predicted by The Economist magazine, will determine where the zone will be placed after the election.
While the people of the Southeast zone may be in a dilemma over where to pitch their tent in the presidential election and other elections, considering that their prominent and popular son is in the race as a presidential candidate of an opposition party, the possibility of him winning the election is slim by all realities and permutations on the ground.
I know that some few irredentists and diehard followers of him will not agree with me, but that does not vitiate the fact that politics is a game of reality, not emotion or sentiment. This is why the two opposition governors in the zone, namely Prof. Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State and Alex Otti of Abia State, are supportive of the incumbent President and APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Despite the fact that the majority of voters in the Southeast zone voted massively for their son on an opposition platform in 2023, he did not win. President Tinubu did not marginalise the zone for not voting for him on assumption of office. This does not mean the zone should toe the same path again in the 2027 general elections. Such would amount to political miscalculation and ingratitude.
Another stark political reality and undercurrent is that the people of the North, comprising the Northeast, Northwest, and North Central zones, will not vote for or support another Southerner who is constitutionally eligible to serve two terms against President Tinubu, who has only one term, if elected.
Forget about the political deception and razzmatazz of signing unconstitutional agreements for a one-term presidency by some politicians. The Northerners will be the last people to believe and work towards that, considering their experience with President Jonathan in 2015, which led to the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) loss of the presidency.
The implied and conventional rotation of the presidency between the North and South is another factor in favour of the incumbent President against his rivals.
Besides, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has favoured the Southeast region more than any other president since 1999, especially in the areas of massive infrastructural development and appointments.
In this case, the best option before the people of the Southeast zone ahead of the 2027 presidential election is to pitch their tent with the APC and its presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Giving President Tinubu massive support with huge votes will place the zone in a more politically advantageous position in the affairs and schemes of things in the country ahead of the 2031 general elections, when presidential power is expected to move to the North.
This is because a President of Southeast extraction can only become possible through negotiations, collaboration, handshakes across the divide, negotiation, and strategic engagement from the corridors of power at the centre, rather than sticking to an echo chamber, talking and replying to oneself at the same time.
The prominent son of the Southeast region, who is a presidential candidate of one of the opposition parties in the 2027 general elections, had more chances of victory in 2023 than he does in 2027. This is why the people of the Southeast region, particularly Enugu people, should apply political sagacity in making their choice of presidential candidate. It is not about prebendalism or brotherhood, but about the political reality on the ground and its long-term consequences thereafter.
Finally, the 2027 elections will not merely be about personalities, emotions, sentiments, or temporary political excitement; they will be about strategy, interests, representation, development, and the future political relevance of Enugu State and the Southeast region.
The people must look beyond immediate sentiments and ask the critical question: What political choice will best position Enugu and the Southeast for greater influence, development, inclusion, and negotiation at the centre?
Vote-splitting may appear attractive to some individuals seeking to advance personal or sectional interests, but its consequences could be far-reaching. In politics, every vote carries a message, and every political decision has consequences.
For Enugu State and the Southeast, the time has come to think strategically, act collectively, and vote with the future in mind. 2027 should not be a season of political experimentation or emotional voting; it should be a season of strategic political investment.
The Southeast must not merely participate in the politics of 2027; it must position itself to reap the political dividends of its choices thereafter.
The future belongs to those who understand the realities of today, negotiate wisely, build bridges across political divides, and make choices that secure the interests of their people tomorrow.
Ezea writes from Independence Layout, Enugu State
EDITOR
Sam Udekwe is a journalist working in the News and Current Affairs department, Enugu State Broadcasting Service (ESBS) Enugu. He is well trained in all genres of journalistic venture.
Mr Sam read Mass Communication, graduating all with Distinction in National Diploma, Higher National Diploma and Postgraduate Diploma at IMT, Enugu and Madonna University, Okija, Anambra state, as well as M.Sc Mass Communication at National Open University of Nigeria.
He is the immediate past NUJ Chairman, Enugu state.
samowailo@gmail.com
