By Mohammad Lawal Maikudi
Now that the presidential and National Assembly elections are over in Nigeria, attention has been shifted to governorship and state assembly elections scheduled for March 11, 2023.
The result of the presidential and National Assembly elections came with surprise across parties and locations as political heavyweights were unable to deliver their constituecies or outrightly
lost the contest themselves. Clear and many examples abound in this regard.
The president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was defeated by Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi in Lagos, his home state where he was governor for eight years and was believed to have established formidable political structure that could stand the test of time.
Lagos State politics has been in the hands of Asiwaju since 1999 and is currently being governed by his political godson, Sanwo Olu.
Kebbi State, Northwest Nigeria is another state were the mighty tumbled. The state governor, Sen Atiku Bagudu could not make it to the senate as well as the other senatorial candidates who were floored by the opposition party, the PDP.
In Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom was denied victory to the senate by voters who preferred his former aide that contested under the APC. Gov Ortom’ s preferred party, the LP was given a resounding knock in the state.
Govern Simon Lalong of Plateau State sought the mandate of his Senatorial District but was denied despite the power of incumbency and his position as Director General of APC Presidential Campaign Council.
In Kaduna State, the ruling APC received a very serious bashing as the main opposition party, the PDP staged a come back and took away the two senatorial slots for Kaduna North and Kaduna Central Senatorial Districts and a sizable number of the Federal Constituecies. 
In Kano, the Kwankwasiyya movement under the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP dominated everywhere during yhe presidential and National Assembly elections, leaving the ruling party gasping for air to survive the onslaught while the PDP struggled to accept the reality when the. final whistle was blown.
It should be noted that out of the four presidential candidates only Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu failed to deliver his home state, Lagos. But Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of PDP, delivered Adamawa State, Mr Peter Obi delivered Anambra State while Sen Rabi:u Musa Kwankwaso delivered Kano but the Vice Presidential Candidate of the APC, Sen Kashim Shettima succeeded in delivering Borno State.
In Taraba State the incumbent governor was denied his ambition to join the senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Whether the PDP would keep its hold on the state after the March 11 encounter remains to be seen.In Katsina State, before the February 25 elections, the APC was presumed secured as it holds all elective positions, from local councils, state assembly, House of Representatives members, Senators, state government in the state. In fact the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, is from there. Yet, the PDP launched a come back, took six out of 15 federal constituecies and secured more votes than the ruling party in the presidential election.
In Yone State, the presence of the president of the senate, Ahmed Lawan could not stop the PDP from winning majority votes in the presidential race.
The case in Oyo State shows that the incumbent governor, Seyi Makinde has lost control of who becomes what as the opposition APC has made significant inroad in the state. Makinde is a member of the G5 PDP governors that worked against the candidature of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. He is seeking re-election as governor of Oyo State. Results of the las election seem to be warning that his electoral outing will be tough as the APC has defeated his party.
Now that the actors are back to the trenches for the governorship and state assemblies elections, there are chances of repeating the surprises in some places. The candidates, especially for governorship will determine the outcome. But the precedent set by Feb 25 election may have some effects on some candidates in some places, especially with the culture of following the bandwagon.
