ANAMBRA: HOW THREE-WAY RACE TURNED STRAIGHT VICTORY
Feb 8th, 2010 | By Camil Rufai | Category: Local Government News
ANAMBRA: HOW THREE-WAY RACE TURNED STRAIGHT VICTORY
Mr. Peter Obi, Anambra State governor had always looked like a man of history. He will be remembered as the man who benefited from the Supreme Court’s interpretation of Section 180 of the 1999 constitution that the tenure of a governor starts on the day he took the oath of office. After over two years contesting the election of Dr Chris Ngige of the then Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Obi and his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) were declared the winner of the 2003 governorship election. Obi assumed office on March 17, 2006. Politicians, particularly state governors had benefited from Obi’s tenacity.
Last Saturday, Obi made history in Anambra becoming the first incumbent governor to be re-elected in the state. He also became the first governor outside the PDP to be re-elected. He is the first governor that has ruled a state as a minority, the Anambra State House of Assembly being 100 per cent PDP.
The election was seen as an anticlimax. The doomsday prophets were proved wrong. The fears of violence proved to be unfounded. And many people were “disappointed.” The election was judged peaceful. However, there was alleged snatching of ballot papers at Nri, in Anaocha council and the home of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPA) candidate Mrs. Uche Ekwunife. It was said that a middle aged man shot sporadically into the air to scare people and ran away with some ballot papers before a failed attempt to apprehend him. A vigilant INEC official had wrestled him before he escaped into the bush with some ballot booklets. And this was in the presence of the crowd of policemen and other security men. There was also the unverified shooting in Alor, Idemili South. At Nnewi INEC office, election materials were reportedly stolen a day before the election.
A day after election some policemen were complaining that their allowance of N2000 for the election was too small and revealed that it was contarry to what the DIG told them- “what we have for you is too much.” At Ekwulobia, in Aguata Local government area, the police held their ground that they won’t move an inch unless their allowances were paid. The protest led to the late arrival of materials and security men at the polling units.
In Uga, with its six polling units, only five were available whereas they were supposed to have at least 30 policemen, with five policemen allocated to each booth. The late arrival of materials at almost all the voting units baffled even INEC officials. When it became obvious that the election was going to be held late, the rumor mills kicked into gear and the story was that it was a ploy to rig the election.
The only party thought capable of rigging the election was the PDP; many people assumed that its candidate, Prof Chukwuma Soludo would win. A senior member of the PDP was accused of importing ‘ghost voters’ from nearby Delta State to vote. It was also said that a PDP top shot, known to play significant role in all governments in Anambra except Obi’s government was behind the rigging machinery that was to usher in PDP and Soludo.
By noon on Saturday, a major part of the materials began moving. And by 1 pm, actual voting began. Soon after the people settled to vote after the late materials were received, they were shocked when they didn’t seen their names on the voters register. The complaint was the same everywhere. Voters were parading their cards but their names were not on the voters’ register.
Obi: Hands-on performer
Evidence that Obi was going to win emerged quite early when other parties began complaining against the conduct of the election. The PDP South East Vice Chairman Chief Olisa Metu called the election a sham. He blamed chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Professor Maurice Iwu for the failure of logistics for the election and disenfranchisement of thousands of voters.
Ironically, the only party that didn’t complain about their members being disenfranchised was the winning party, APGA. Obi was busy on Election Day monitoring the voting. If some of his supporters didn’t vote, he did not complain. He exuded a certain unspoken confidence. Before the election, all the political parties were presented with a copy of the voters register. While other candidates took the register to the wards to verify voters’ names, Governor Obi is believed to have taken the register to the Church to ensure that the names on the register were the names of real people who could vote.
Chants of victory
As soon as results started coming in, many politicians became shocked at an imminent straight victory in what was presumed a three-man fight of Ngige, Soludo and Obi, with the possibility that none of them would win at the first ballot. Obi won, as they say, ‘hands down.’
At the governor’s Amatutu village in Agulu, the scene was like a King’s palace. Dancers, drummers, masquerades were in a frenzy.
Dressed in wrappers or posters of Obi, youths, men and women strut the road in front of Obi’s ‘Palace’ shouting themselves hoarse with chants of victory. Standby musical groups can’t stop singing and improvising tunes. Every vehicle passing is forced to a halt and to carry a poster of Obi on the windshield. Sporadic gunshots and ululations pierce the tranquility of the village just as the posters of Obi and Dim Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu and APGA flag added color.
Around the compound of a storey building and several bungalows, the people gathered, sat in rows of plastic chairs beside the white wall and under the shade of mango and orange trees or beside the rows of cars parked in the compound. Men and women, old and young waited. Many missed Sunday service to wait for Obi, who was away in Awka.
There was generally low voting, following the mix up in voters register that disenfranchised some registered voters. But turn out was impressive. In the end, APGA Obi who is incumbent governor won with 97843 votes to beat his closest rival, Dr. Chris Ngige of Action Congress (AC) who secured 60240.
Prof Chukwuma Soludo of PDP had 569355 while Nicholas Ukachukwu of Hope Democratic Party 20977. Andy Uba of the Labour Party scored 26105 among others.
Skirmishes included the alleged abduction of one Miss Emezie Nkeiru at the St Luke’s church road, Ogbaru polling booth. According to the Electoral Officer for Ogbaru, Mr Michael Odeh, her abductors had taken her away to an unknown destination where they thumb-printed the voting materials and about three hours later brought her back. “That incident sent shivers down the spin of electoral officers working in Ogbaru but I thank God that we came over it and the lady in question has rejoined the team. However, we have cancelled the result of that polling unit,” Odeh told the electoral team at the INEC office while declaring the outcome of the local government area.
Factors which may have aved Obi’s way include the nomination fight in the PDP where four of the candidates that ran in the election came from, power of incumbency, Obi’s modest performance in the past four years as well as the foremost APGA leader Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu who came all out to fight for Obi.
Series of litigations as well as discontent over the manner in which Soludo was handpicked against over 50 other contestants for the PDP ticket without proper primaries of the party and inability of the party to settle the differences set the skies cloudy for PDP/Soludo from the start.
While party big wigs like Ukachukwu, Uche Ekwunife PPA, Andy Uba had joined other parties to contest the election, those aspirants who had obtained the nomination forms after paying N5 million mandatory fees which the party national leadership refused to refund them, vowed to make the election difficult for the party. Four governors of the South East Zone abandoned the party candidate. One of the contestants to the ticket of the PDP told the Guardian yesterday that ” the attitude of the leadership of the party and Soludo’s campaign carriage really dealt a heavy blow to the party in the election.”
“How do you expect us to show support for the candidate of the party. If you watch the campaigns, you will discover that no top member of the party was with him. He was alone and lacked the required party spirit to reconcile grievances. No matter how you look at it, the party is gradually loosing grip of the state.”
Also, since the other candidates, notably, Ekwunife, Ukachukwu, Uba left PDP in anger to join the race, it severely eroded the party grip of the state. Hence, they decided to vote out the PDP and anybody coming from the party. Said Chief Nwoba Nwoko, “All of us are in PDP, but I must tell you that most people thought the PDP decided to play down on the party by ensuring the emergence of Soludo, while putting up the three other candidates at another platform. So that any of them that eventually wins, will return to the PDP. They tried to be smart but the people were smatter. The PDP is the tripod on which PPA, HDP and Labour Party candidates emerged for the election.”
The Ojukwu factor became a major force that actually fired the party to victory. Ojukwu, who defied his age to embark on statewide campaign with Obi had told the electorate at every point of the need to accord him honor and dignity by voting Obi in the election. “That is my last wish. You would have made me proud if you vote Obi in the election so that he will continue with the good work he is doing for our people. Obi’s voice is the only voice you will hear at the government house in the next four years,” he had said, adding that, Obi had indeed taken good care of him at his old age.
This passion and love for the former Biafran leader, many believed contributed greatly to the victory of the governor. Justice Party National Chairman, Ralph Obioha said, “no matter how old and frail Ojukwu may have become, his presence and support has contributed immensely to this feat by the party.
“The approach in the campaign of the party became another serious point that while other candidates were said to be talking with both registered and non registered voters, Obi and APGA directly spoke with registered voters. His campaign was one-on-one he will talk to you about what he has done for your community and ask you what those contesting against him had done for your area. So this means even if he is giving you money, he is not giving it to you to vote for him, but to ask for your conscience.”
By Kodilinye Obiagwu, Lawrence Njoku (The Guardian Newspaper, Monday, February 8,2009)
