By Kelechi Esogwa-Amadi
With less than 365 days to 2023, the year the next general elections will hold in Nigeria, some residents of Rivers State have started expressing worry that nothing much is happening within the political space with regard to the governorship race.
In a chat with our reporter on Saturday, some of the residents said they were anxious to know those aspiring for the governorship in order to know in time who to support and work with.
John Ikezor, a trader in Mile 3, Diobu, said he was surprised that up till now, nobody has officially made his governorship ambition known in the state.
He added: “Honestly I don’t understand why all the politicians are silent. Nobody is showing interest about 2023 governorship election. Everybody is just quiet both APC and PDP. Other parties, the same thing. Maybe they’re waiting for this year to go far small before they will open up or they’re waiting for their parties. But I know that if it was before, they will start making small small noise by now.”
A female trader at the Ogbunabali Fruit Market also expressed similar worry over the silence in the Rivers political atmosphere concerning the 2023 governorship race.
According to her, the only thing they are hearing about the contest is rumours.
“Wetin we dey hear everyday na rumour. Some go say this person go contest; some go say na that person. You know our women, dem go just dey talk wetin dem no dey sure. The only thing be say as the thing dey now, we never know who we go support. But as for the party, I know say many people here na PDP. We just day pray make PDP bring somebody wey go dey like Governor Wike, person wey no go fear to tell federal government the truth, person wey no go do akanchi (stingy) and person wey go make sure say development go round for Rivers State. Na dey kin person we go want, na that kin person we go vote for,” the woman said.
Also commenting on the seeming dormant state of things in terms of the 2023 governorship, a banker working with Zenith Bank in Port Harcourt, who pleaded not to be mentioned, said although his job does not give him time to monitor what is happening in politics, he had noticed that everything is still quiet as long as 2023 governorship race is concerned.
The banker said: “Although I’m the wrong person to seek his opinion on this given the nature of our job that doesn’t give us much time to follow up events in the political sector, the truth still remains that we’re also part of the electorate because we vote. Now, despite not having time to monitor developments concerning 2023, I’ve noticed that there are still no posters of governorship aspirants on the roads. At least if there are, we will see them when going or returning from work. I don’t know if it used to be like this before but I think that by the end of 2021 or early this year 2022, it would be right to know those aspiring to contest for a governorship election that is going to hold in a year’s time.”
However, a chief who said he is a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), explained that the seeming quietness of the 2023 governorship aspirants in the state would soon be over as the main issue delaying it is being resolved. “I believe that one of the reasons why governorship aspirants have not started declaring their interest is the electoral bill issue. Maybe they were waiting to know how the bill will resolve the issue of primaries. Now that the issue is almost resolved, I’m sure many parties will soon declare the race open. It’s not peculiar to Rivers State alone; it’s like this in all the states but soon the noise will start. So, our people should be patient. What they should be doing now is to ensure that they get their PVCs because that is their ticket to vote,” he said.
