On Saturday, the 19th day of February, 2022, both All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); the two most prominent political parties in Nigeria (at the moment) held their rallies and conventions just a stone throw away from each other’s venue in the city of Calabar, Cross Rivers state. While the APC was hosting the APC Cross Rivers youth summit at the U. J. Esuene stadium, Calabar, the Peoples Democratic Party Just some few kilometers away from the stadium was hosting their own campaign in the Calabar sport club for the upcoming Ogoja/Yala Federal Constituency and Akpabuyo State constituency bye elections.
The Governor of Cross Rivers state, Prof Ben Ayade who last year had dumped pdp for Apc did his political maneuvering and with the state political might to make sure the pdp campaign didn’t hold in Calabar on Saturday.
The police and other security agencies in the state acting at the directive of the governor, barricaded the Calabar sport club, the proposed venue for the pdp campaign in the early hours of Saturday.
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This funny and petty political tactics has been the Nigerian’s politicians’ games and gimmicks especially when it is election period. A political stakeholder in another political party will always try to sabotage the electoral plans and activities of the other opposing parties.
In some states, the sitting governor who is a member of another party will declare that the other competing political parties do not have the security clearance to host a political rally or campaign in the state and for the matter of national security, the rally must be canceled or rescheduled. These are just made up stories to sabotage the opposition party political activities in the state.
Some governors go as far as declaring curfews and restriction of movement on the day an opposition political party is hosting their campaigns and rallies in the state just to make sure that the political party gets little or no turnout for the campaign.
Nigerian politicians and political stakeholders should learn that the beauty of democracy and multi party system of government is that every political party has the legal status and right to organize themselves, hold their rallies and campaigns and carry out their political activities, in as much as the rallies and campaigns are not a security threat to the state and they are acting in accordance to the law.
The political leaders of a state should therefore avoid playing the petty games of always looking for a way of grounding the political activities of other political parties in the state.