Before the Anambra State electorates went to the poll penultimate Saturday, to choose among the 37 contestants who would preside over the affairs of the state for the next four years, there had been permutations over the likely winner.
The projections increased as the Election Day approached, and reached the peak after the debate staged for five prominent contenders- Willie Obiano of the ruling All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA); Tony Nwoye of the All Progressives Congress (APC); Oseloka Obaze of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP); Osita Chidoka of United Progressive Party, (UPP); and Godwin Ezeemo of the People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA).
After the debate, the town talk was that Chidoka was going to win the election. He excited many of those that watched the exercise with his presentation, though some analysts faulted that he “did not provide sources for most of his debatable statistics” he dished out in the course of his presentation.
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And contrary to the apprehension over the possible breakdown of law and order, particularly as a result of the threats by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Anambra was peaceful and calm all through the period of voting. Unlike in some states where many people lost their lives during gubernatorial elections, there were no incidences of bloodshed across the state.
Although the election has been won and lost, there are many lessons therefrom.
Godfatherism in slow extinction
Anambra used to be a domain of godfathers- moneybags who sponsored politicians for pecuniary reasons. In 1999, Chinwoke Mbadinuju, who was governor till 2003, was said to have been sponsored by Emeka Offor, owner of Chrome Oil.
Mbadinuju was succeeded by Chris Ngige, who is currently a minister. Ngige was bankrolled by Chris Uba. The victory recorded by Willie Obiano in 2013 was largely made possible by Peter Obi, a former governor of the state. However, before the election penultimate Saturday, it appeared there had been a frosty relationship between Obi and Obiano. As a result of the impasse, Obi was quoted as saying that he was ready to spill the last drop of his blood to stop Obiano from being re-elected. Analysts say the failure of Peter Obi to frustrate Obiano’s return may have demystified the former governor’s posturing as a godfather. Had Obi succeeded in installing Obaze, he would have established himself as a force to reckon with in the Anambra politics.
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“I think, what Peter Obi wanted to achieve was the kind of power Bola Tinubu is wielding in Lagos. I think that era is gone in Anambra. The people are wiser now. Anambra people now know what they want; nobody can bamboozle them any longer. I think that was exactly what has played out,” said Tony Emeoha, an Onitsha-based public relations practitioner.
Guy Ikokwu, a Second Republic politician and lawyer, said Obiano’s victory would ensure political stability and balance in the state.
According to him, Peter Obi is a good man, who served the state well but his candidate, Oseloka Obaze was rejected at the polls because “Obi made the tactical mistake of being a godfather, who thought he can always impose people on the state, not based on ideology or consultation with the people.”
Stella Adaeze Oduah, a PDP senator, representing Anambra North, commended the people of Anambra for saying no to imposition and politics of godfatherism by ensuring that
they voted the right candidate irrespective of his party.
Not yet fertile ground for APC
One of the lessons is that it may take the APC a few more years to win the gubernatorial election in Anambra State. The outcome of the election shows that the people are still loyal to the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who popularised APGA in the state.
Some observers say that the fairly good performance of Tony Nwoye at the poll was purely on his own merit and not on the merit of the APC.
Patricia Odogwu, a businesswoman in the state, said: “There is this argument that the visit of President Buhari and his participation in the last lap of Tony Nwoye’s campaign boosted his (Nwoye) chances and must have probably, been responsible for the total number of votes the APC’s candidate got. On the other hand some people say that many of those who would have voted for Nwoye on his personal merit changed their mind when they saw some faces at his campaign. There is this belief that had Nwoye contested on the PDP platform, the story could have been different. Well, these are all conjectures.”
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Card reader malfunction sends INEC back to the drawing board
One of the noticeable challenges in the Anambra election was the malfunctioning of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) card readers in many polling units. The card reader also failed Governor Obiano, who complained bitterly about the situation. More so, INEC’s inability to move materials to polling units at the right time, resulting in delays in the commencement of the exercise in the affected areas, was a huge slip.
Observers wondered why INEC has still not overcome the card reader challenge over two-and-half years after the general election in 2015.
“I don’t see what is special in the card reader that INEC has not been able to get it right. Introduction of the card reader is really commendable, but the constant complaints arising from it is a national embarrassment. What happened in Anambra is an indication that INEC is not really ready for 2019. The commission must get down to work so that there can be marked improvement when next it is going to be used. If the PoS being used in the banks are working perfectly, why is it that INEC can’t get this card reader thing correctly? We must decide if we actually want this technology or stick to our old method. The complaints and excuses are becoming too much,” Kayode Ayodeji, a member of an election monitoring group, said.
Buhari learning slowly
Since the successful gubernatorial election in which Obiano was overwhelmingly returned with a wide margin, the All Progressives Congress (APC), including President Muhammadu Buhari, has been doing everything possible to make political capital out of the peaceful exercise.
It was shocking to hear some of the APC chieftains claim that the success of the election was the handiwork of President Buhari.
They claimed that Obiano couldn’t have won the election if not that APC had determined to ensure free and fair exercise.
Congratulating Obiano, President Buhari had expressed delight at the conduct of the candidate’s post-election results, describing it as “heart-warming and a renewal of confidence in the sanctity of the ballot which deepens our nation’s democracy.”
According to the President, “The processes leading to the peaceful conduct and outcome have shown that our electoral reform is bearing positive fruits. This is very encouraging and I am determined to give Nigeria free and fair elections, no matter which way the results swing.”
Some observers have described as ennobling the President’s resolve to “adorn new outfit” in response to election outcomes.
“If the President has had a change of mind and attitude towards election results, particularly when they neither favour him nor his party, it is commendable. We all saw his reaction in 2011 following his loss at the presidential election. It was believed then that Buhari’s provocative remarks played a role in the bloody violence that led to the death of 10 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and hundreds of others after the April’s presidential polls of that year.
Buhari was said to have threatened that ‘dog and baboon would soak in the blood’ if the alleged rigging repeated itself in 2015. Recall also that when Seriake Dickson won the gubernatorial election in January 9, 2016, the President refused to congratulate him. So, if he has turned a new leaf now, it is commendable,” Theophilus Omehi, a lecturer with a tertiary institution, said.
Recall that following intense calls on President Buhari to congratulate Dickson, Lai Mohammed, minister of Information and Culture, told journalists that Buhari sees such congratulatory messages as unnecessary interference in elections or their outcomes which he will not engage in.
“This President is not in the business of interfering and intervening in elections,” the Minister said.
“What of if he sent a congratulatory message and they go to court and the election is overturned, will he call back the congratulatory message? “This President believes that the presidency should be insulated from the conduct of elections and their outcomes,” Mohammed added.
Although the President has since recognised Obiano as the winner of the Anambra election, pundits, however, do not think that the success of the Anambra election had anything to do with the determination of the President to ensure free and fair elections, contrary to his claim.
According to Omehi, “What really happened was that the people of Anambra determined what they wanted. The margin between Obiano’s votes and that of Nwoye is so wide that no amount of rigging by any other party could have significantly altered the result. Rather than basking in the euphoria of an accomplished task in Anambra, the APC government should rather harmonise with the INEC with a view to addressing all the limitations noticed to be in a position to deliver a better outing in 2019.”
Security still a huge issue
Although security was said to be at its best during the election in the sense that there was no record of the breakdown of law and order, some unscrupulous elements still perpetrated several electoral malpractices under the nose of security personnel. Cases of vote-buying and selling were rampant. Party agents were said to be opened offering money in exchange for votes. Reports had it that the agents of the three major parties PDP, APC and APGA were involved in this. Food was also said to have been distributed to voters in exchange for their votes. The security agents watched the buying and selling and did not take action. This laxity must be properly addressed in subsequent elections.
Poverty still a factor in Nigerian election
What transpired in Anambra was a clear indication that there can never be a free and fair election in Nigeria when a greater percentage of the electorates are poverty-stricken. In Nigeria, voters are bought with as little as N100 or a loaf of bread. The usual talk among the voters is “let me take the little I see now, after all, when they get there they don’t remember us”. This feeling of alienation has often pushed the voters to sell their votes, and that was the case in Anambra on November 18.
Security personnel drafted to keep the peace and to ensure the exercise was conducted within the ambit of the nation’s electoral law, looked on as voters and agents engaged in open vote selling and buying. What has happened in Anambra gives an indication that 2019 could be worse.
By the way things are going and the “chop alone” mentality in government, many more Nigerians would have joined the poverty league in 2019, and more idle youths would have joined the voting team, whose interest could be to embrace the principle of “if you can’t win them, join them”!
How to avoid this impending catastrophe, pundits say, should be the preoccupation of the Federal Government and not be ensconced in self-adulation.
