MANY factors were responsible for the outcome of last Saturday governorship election in Anambra State, including chiefly the incumbency of the state governor, the general conduct of the exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the role of money in the process, and blackmail or coercion of those that wield influence and power.
However, the results declared by the INEC may have turned to shreds the form book that predicted a close race, and at worst a marginal victory for the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Willie Obiano.
The commission had published a “clean copy” arising from a computer error that cut the ages of some voters to 16 - that is two years below the statutory requirement for eligibility to vote; and earlier detected fraudulent names in the thousands in the voter register and about 53 polling units in strange places other than the officially designated polling stations in the state.
With clean copies of the voter registers timely given to the parties and their candidates participating in the election, it was surprising to discover that many eligible voters were still disenfranchised on Saturday by the same INEC, through elimination of their names from the registers or transferring of such names to polling stations far removed for where the voters had registered.
More worrisome was that the disenfranchisement took place in mainly opposition strongholds. Two examples will suffice here: In Anambra East and its surrounding local government councils, many names were missing from the voter registers.
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Comrade Tony Nwoye, along with over 300 of voters, including his aged father, mother and twin brothers could note vote as only 87 of the 400 registered names were on the register for his polling unit, the same they had used in the 2011 elections.
Elsewhere in Anambra Central, the stronghold of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Chris Ngige, voting materials were not supplied to many polling stations; and where they were supplied, they came in batches or were incomplete, especially lacking result sheets.
No wonder Ngige and his platform cried foul, and the INEC had to reschedule election, for yesterday, in 65 polling unit in the Idemili community of North and South local government councils.
Incumbency factor
WHILE other candidates were literally scratching their heads over campaign finances, Mr. Willie Obiano, the political godson of Governor Peter Obi, escaped the scourge all through the process leading up to the election.
This was apparent in Obiano’s posters and billboards, which dotted all nooks and crannies of Anambra States. In most cases, such posters and billboards were adorned with the photographs of Governor Obi as if he was the one running in the election.
However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Obi was the sole nominator, sponsor and financier of Obiano, a former banker, who never thought of being a governor.
A source put this scenario thus: “It is an open secret that Obiano never dreamt of becoming a local government councilor, talkless of assuming the post of council chairman, a lawmaker either at state or federal level and now he is talking of becoming a governor.”
And the source predicted: “Only a miracle can stop Obiano from winning the election tomorrow (last Saturday) from the way Governor Obi has mobilised resources, men and materials for this man.”
Hence, critics accused the governor of resurrecting the issue of “godfatherism” in Anambra politics - matter that was thought to be dead, and buried during the first spell of Senator Ngige as governor of Anambra State.
Recall that Ngige’s political godfather then, Chief Chris Uba, used all means, including “kidnapping” of the governor when Ngige failed to honour a pledge to be paying a certain monthly amount to defray the expenses he (Uba) incurred in ensuring that Ngige was manipulated electorally into the governor’s seat.
The courts were to remove Ngige from power on the strength of the petitions/appeals filed by Mr. Obi, who was eventually sworn-in as governor after almost three years in the political/litigation.
Role and power of money
COMMENTING on the role of money in Saturday’s election, a respondent said: “Isn’t surprising that it is the same Obi, who, suffered from the influence of a godfather, that has adopted Obiano as his political godson, and on whose behalf he has been campaigning and spending the state resources to champion his governorship bid?”
Asked to substantiate the allegation that the governor was using the state recourses to advance the interest of the APGA candidate, the source pointed to the giant billboards in all the corners of the state it said were erected by the Obi government for Obiano.
And giving more ammunition to his critics was Governor Obi’s last-minute distribution of vehicles to traditional institutions and religious bodies in the state, and initiating multi-billion Naira projects that may not even be on the drawing board before his term expires in early 2014 - all obviously geared towards getting supports and votes for his party and candidate.
Thus, in the governorship poll, money played a significant part, as in truth, election is “big business” in Anambra politics; and politicians, and especially their sponsors, or “godfathers”, invest heavily in elections, particularly the governorship.
Poll trackers had indicated that money began to change hands right from the flag-off of campaigns mid year. But as one of them told The Guardian, “the amount of money that has entered the state in the last few weeks is mind-blowing, in the region of billions of Naira.”
Reports across the state spoke of a certain business mogul cum politician as “voting and dropping” N2 million for each of the 327 wards (some said in each of the 4,608 polling units) in the 21 local government councils, for “mobilisation of voters to cast the ballots for the candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Comrade Tony Nwoye, who entered the race “very late” due to intra-party litigation.
Reports also spoke of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Chris Ngige, getting financial boosts from the party big-wigs and the rebellious governors of the PDP.
But many poll watchers doubted this, as such financial enhancement was not apparent in erecting even billboards or posters of the candidate across the state except in his “presumed strongholds” of the two Idemili local government councils, and by extension in Anambra Central senatorial district.
Some of Ngige’s supporters openly spoke about the man’s “tight-handedness”.
In the camp of Mr. Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah, the Labour Party candidate who deals in oil and gas, it was a different ball game, as it was still bubbling, financially on the eve of the election, despite initial reports that “he was down.”
As one of his campaign aides explained, “we made a tactical withdrawal at a time in order to save money for the final push to get Dr. Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah elected.”
Indeed, Ubah was the first candidate to go full-throttle at the election, campaigning in all the wards and councils of the state.
“In the process, he spent a lot in mobilisation of the grassroots. You can see the results in the huge following and supports he is enjoying to the finish-line,” the aide said.
Reports spoke of a “bazzar” at the campaign headquarters of the LP flagbearer at the election, as he distributed “thousands of foreign branded household appliances and equipment” on that day - a situation that didn’t represent someone that was broke.
Nonetheless, majority of the 23 candidates for the election were handicapped by money, and as such, they couldn’t mobilise for the contest. It was so bad for some of them that they could only print few posters, which they pasted at their campaign headquarters.
They could not afford to talk to the press, to put out their messages; and they were unable to visit a single local government to campaign.
According to Dim Patrick, the state chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the problems of the seemingly fringe candidates were compounded by the “refusal” of money-bags to support them financially.
That was the dilemma that faced many of the candidates at the election, and the extent to which money was deployed, and, indeed, spoke at and contributed to deciding Saturday’s election.
Instrument of coercion
THE election saw the deployment of blackmail, cajoling or coercion as an instrument of swing the votes for one or two of the candidates. The state-ruling APGA and the national-ruling PDP reportedly employed this method through several sources.
There were reports that the Obi government ordered heads of the caretaker committees of the 21 local government areas to “deliver your council” or be shown the way out. This was in anticipation that the APGA would win the election.
A source noted that this was a double-edged sword employed by the state government, as Governor Obi had been running the councils with caretaker committees for almost eight years now.
Respondents’ reading of the situation was that, “if any of the council committees failed to deliver its area, that committee would be replaced, in the event that Obiano wins the election.”
“Yet, if another party wins the poll, the caretaker committees would also be dissolved, as the winner would assume, and rightly, too, that after all, the committees did not canvass votes for him and his party.”
Obi’s government also reportedly “cajoled or blackmailed” those who had benefitted from its recent “largesse”, to reciprocate the gesture by persuading, encouraging and/or compelling their wards, supporters or followers to vote the APGA at the election.
Such beneficiaries included traditional rulers, who have the voice, power and reach to carry out the government bidding.
The state government also allegedly pressurised contractors that do business with it to “deliver” or kiss their contracts bye.
“These people are told in plain language that they have to contribute not only money, but also votes to the cause of the APGA and its candidates,” said a respondent.
“You can imagine how much these people must have contributed to ensuring that the APGA wins the election. And if they deliver actually, as expected, it’s Victory Day for APGA.”
Interestingly, the PDP and its candidate were also said to rely on “federal contractors to give maximum supports” to the capturing of Anambra State from the APGA.
According to a source, they (contractors) were told that if they failed to deliver their constituencies to the PDP, they stood the chance of losing new contracts or getting paid for contracts already executed.
“You know that federal contracts are very juicy, and so, no one would like to lose such patronage,” the source said.
In addition, the PDP reportedly brandished before its chieftains in Anambra, and adjoining states federal appointments into boards of its numerous agencies and parastatals, “if they ensure the victory of the PDP at the election,” the source added
But the Federal Government might did not seem to work unless credence is given to the PDP and its candidate, Comrade Nwoye, who was disenfranchised at the poll, winning two local government councils, as being speculated as at the time of writing yesterday.
So, without discountenancing other factors, INEC conduct, incumbency of Governor Obi, money, and coercion of people of influence and power to deliver their areas played a major role in the APGA and its candidate, Mr. Willie Obiano, emerging victorious at the Anambra governorship election.
No comments:
Post a Comment