The Anambra elections have come and gone, the real battle is about to begin. Ngige, a fighter, Obiano backed by Obi, a fighter, are about to do an epic. There’s something interesting about this whole thing: even if Ngige loses in the end, he would have taught the Nigerian political class how not to do things. If he wins, a statement is carved on stone. Another is: now on, when going into elections, prepare to win; heap evidence too in case you lose. Fact is, one way or the other, victory could bud somewhere, either through the ballot box or through the court process.
At the last count, it’s 10,234 exhibits admitted. My worry is the court process itself. We’ve seen cases with comparatively negligible number of exhibits last 10 or more years; if this is the trend, how long could this take? I know many factors come into play, especially when celebrities are involved and what more, when backed by their parties. Definitely the other side has its baggage of counter evidence; if theirs is that large too, what do we expect?
Away from the legal jigsaw is the prevailing temperament. The APC, Ngige’s platform came too big, too late. Big because of impact: it moved rapidly within a short space of time; late because, the imprint in the people’s mind had been made before that impact; it’s either APGA or PDP. One year or a few months campaigning seems too short to erase such imprints. But for the caliber of the candidate, Ngige, the electorate would have looked the other way. I remember him fighting the powers-that-be in the PDP, yet doing his job as though not hounded. That was political courage. The people would have massively come to say thank you but for his platform. Added to this, his party did a bad bit to deport his people close to the elections and it was like: is this the people he is bringing to us?
The other is perception. The APC is perceived as a north-west alliance with the east and south as joiners. They don’t seem to see their chances in such an arrangement. Yes we trust our son but can a joiner flex with a founder, muted one Mr. Ukadike. That seems to underscore the people’s unease. The party was not patient enough to carry the rest along during its formative years. They knew Ngige’s caliber, why was he not made prominent at that stage when people were asking, ‘where’s this party coming from? To have formed the party first before making Ngige prominent as a gubernatorial candidate presented him more like a ‘wooing object’ than an insider. That was cause for some wane of trust.
There’s also the Ojukwu factor. Memory of his death is still fresh. Maybe the rest of Nigeria doesn’t yet understand the depth of feeling Igbos have for the man Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. If a newspaper vendor is propped up and given the Ojukwu toga, HE WILL WIN, his death notwithstanding. Reason: he is the man who stood firm with his people in time of pain and anguish without blinking. He was a God-sent rock on whom they could lean. It’s not the same as tarring roads and mounting electric poles on the streets as achievement, then go chorusing and trumpeting self-praise. Ojukwu was a man. If he stood by APGA, then it’s the party of men. Maybe right, maybe wrong but that’s the perception and it’s what determines action.
Another provocative determinant was the Rochas Okorocha factor. This was a man rolled into power by APGA but at the time he should pay back with solidarity, he crossed over to APC leaving his platform in the cold. The interpretation was first, he’s not reliable and second, the party he’s fronting for is divisive. It aims at using the sons of the people to divide the people just to have its way. That’s the understanding. Maybe Okorocha’s calculation was different but he should have asked the people since election is about people. It looked like a masterstroke fronting Ngige backed by Rochas but that stroke saw only the elite not the people. The back-clash is a foot-vote.
The issue here is conduct of election versus factors that informed the people’s decision. Conduct is a matter for the courts, INEC and the interested parties. If it’s how the people decided, these are they. It isn’t about Obiano; rather, about where he’s coming from.
Ngige may win or lose, but the question is, why is his political attitude always having streaks of controversy and confrontation? Would Anambra benefit from such? Would there not be endless court-processes rather than development? That’s something he must ponder over. Great fighting wits yes, but it must balance with the people’s interest.
Onyebuchi Onyegbule
