By Bayo Adeoye,
Taking on a sitting government is never an easy task, and according to Hon. Shina Peller, one of the reasons is that many challengers underestimate what they are up against.
Hon. Shina Peller makes this point in Seun Oloketuyi’s forthcoming book, How to Win an Election in Nigeria, where he reflects on the realities of challenging an incumbent and what it takes to stand a real chance of winning.
He said opposition candidates sometimes mistake the anger people express towards a government or the excitement generated on social media for actual electoral strength.
But, as Hon. Shina Peller explained, there is a big difference between people being unhappy with a government and having a well-organised structure capable of defeating it at the polls.
According to Hon. Shina Peller, incumbents already have established networks and resources working in their favour, giving them an advantage that challengers cannot afford to ignore.
For anyone hoping to unseat a sitting government, Hon. Shina Peller said the work has to begin well before election season.
A challenger cannot simply appear during the campaign period and expect public frustration to do the rest. “Rage against an incumbent is not a strategy; structure is,” he said.
His comments offer a look at one of the biggest realities of Nigerian elections which is, defeating an incumbent requires more than being the alternative. It requires building enough strength to actually compete with the machinery already in place.
Hon. Shina Peller’s thoughts on incumbency, opposition politics and what it takes to challenge those already in power are featured in Seun Oloketuyi’s How to Win an Election in Nigeria, scheduled for release on September 6.
