Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the people of Anambra will go to the polls on November 6, in what unarguably has been the most hotly contested dog-fight gubernatorial election in the state’s history. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); the electoral umpire charged with ensuring its smooth conduct says it is ready; the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice; Abubakar Malami thinks otherwise. The nation’s chief law enforcement officer, saddled with the onerous responsibility of providing security has threatened that the federal government would not hesitate to declare a state of emergency to uphold the democratic order in Anambra in the wake of increasing violence and loss of life and property that threatens the election.
Riled by that weighty threat, Gov. Willie Obiano rushed to President Muhammadu Buhari, and extracted assurances that such a political ambush was not in the works. But indicators on the ground presage disturbing realities that the road ahead will be very challenging. The polity has been mindlessly heated up as politicians stake their claims to power. In their desperation for control over Anambra’s destiny, none of the 18 candidates has articulated a clear roadmap with concrete ideas on how to move the state forward. Indeed, their campaign messages are merely empty clichés; making Anambra look like a big state entrusted to small men. To think that Peter Obi was governor of Anambra just a few years back, the present organized chaos masquerading as an election is an unbelievable shame; the people of Anambra deserve better.
Indeed, the electoral combat statistics of the front row contenders indicates the election will be too close to call. While the candidates of Zenith Labor Party (ZLP), Dr. Obiora Okonkwo (Dikeora) and his African Democratic Congress (ADC) counterpart, Nze Akachukwu Nwankpo, have been factoring the Anambra centric element into their campaigns, the embattled governing All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate and former CBN governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo and his All Progressives Congress (APC) rival, Sen. Andy Uba, continue to battle over the ascendancy of domestic and national power of incumbency. The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Valentine Ozigbo, is betting on the party’s traditional old glory to spring surprises, saying despite the handful of defections, the PDP retains comparative advantage at the grassroots.
Soludo, tipped by bookmakers as a top contender had to fend off challenges for his party’s ticket from Hon. Chukwuma Umeoji and Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu. Also, the PDP standard bearer, Ozigbo, contended with rival factional candidate, Sen. Ugochukwu Uba, before the courts came to his rescue. The other candidates are: Obiora Agbasimelo, (Labor Party), Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah, ((YPP); Dr. Godwin Maduka, (Accord Party); Bennet Etiaba, (AA); Dr. Chidozie Nwankwo, (AAC) Nze Akachukwu Nwankpo, (ADC); Afam Ume-ezeoke, (ADP); Col. Geoffrey Onyejegbu, (APM); Philip Echetebu, (APP); Okeke Chika Jerry, (BOOT Party); Ohajinkpo Leonard, (NNPP); Afam Ezenwafor, (NRM); Nnamdi Nwawuo, (PRP) and Obinna Uzoh of SDP.
Anxiety has gripped the state out of a palpable sense of fear that violence is inevitable. Less than two weeks to the November 6 poll, the level of insecurity in Anambra has become alarming. It came to a disturbing climax when Dr. Chike Akunyili, widower of late Prof. Dora Akunyili, former Information Minister and former Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), was gruesomely murdered along with eight others in Ajalli, Orumba North LGA. Before the Akunyili murder, a police station was attacked and two policemen killed. Gunmen also set ablaze the offices of the Department of State Services (DSS) and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Nnewi, leaving two people dead. The home of a Lagos-based APC chieftain, Joe Igbokwe, and that of another prominent Nnewi son and former minister, Dr. Chu Okongwu, were invaded and razed.
In March, unidentified gunmen stormed the home town of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, in Isuofia, Aguata LGA and disrupted a meeting, at a time Soludo had not even secured the APGA’s ticket. Besides police stations, other federal government establishments including correctional centers and INEC offices have been vandalized. The attack on Soludo gave the orgy of barbarity a political coloration, raising questions whether the election would hold. The APGA and APC have been engaged in a war of words over who is responsible for the insecurity and violence in the state.
Eyewitnesses have accused the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB); but the separatist group has denied any involvement in the violence. However, there are fears the continuous detention of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu whose request to be transferred to Kuje prison from DSS custody was denied by the court will spark off renewed violence. Already, IPOB has declared a one week sit-at-home protest from Nov 5-10, which covers the Nov 6 election date. The implication is therefore not lost on the population, state and federal government stakeholders like INEC, on the existential threat this poses to the vote. IPOB in a statement by its media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful said: “Following the adjournment of our great leader Nnamdi Kanu’s court case to 10th of November 2021, by the Federal High Court, Abuja, we the great movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra wish to inform Biafrans, friends of Biafra and lovers of freedom that IPOB will lock down Biafraland from 5th of November to 10th of November except Sunday, November 7th, a day our people worship the Almighty God if the Nigeria Government fails to release our leader unconditionally before 4th of November 2021.”
So, with D-Day staring voters squarely in the face, just how ready is Anambra? To begin with, there are still unresolved issues with the PVCs, with an alarming number of eligible voters, not yet in possession of their cards. Besides, there is every indication to be wary about post-election violence. Sadly the Nigerian police force, burdened with the constitutional mandate of providing security, appears to be struggling to buckle its belt. The fact that the federal government has launched operation Golden Dawn, with a massive presence of the military and mobile police operatives in all corners of Anambra should worry Nigerians. In addition, the prevailing insecurity and uncertainty has obviously dampened the enthusiasm of voters. The recent spate of politically motivated violence, and the seeming inability of security agents to checkmate and apprehend the perpetrators, has fueled concerns that the elections would not be devoid of violence.
With unmitigated socio-economic injustice, with the few rich living ostentatiously in the midst of the grinding poverty of the majority, and with the people’s confidence in the Nigerian project waning, Anambra 2021 is a ticking time bomb that might turn out to be Nigeria’s nemesis. Voters in Anambra head to the polls with political institutions and a political process bereft of the essential ingredients of genuine democratic values. Neither the ruling APGA in the state nor any of the 17 other participating political parties can be said to be engines of the democratic process and platforms for servant-leaders recruitment. Instead, with no ideologies or ideas, they have morphed into avenues for imposition of candidates to the detriment of internal party democracy, becoming mere special purpose vehicles for power grabbing and wealth appropriation. History seemed poised to repeat itself with the ruling APC facing possible disqualification of the party and its candidate from participating in the election.
Either way, the issues in this election have not been crystalized and with every passing day, voters are becoming restless with the reasons why the candidates are seeking their votes. In desperation for a hold on the state’s treasury which political power confers, some politicians are deploying violence and other unorthodox tactics that are a disservice to Anambra voters. The faces they or their hirelings show and the words they speak are not nation-building. The eruption of violence at political rallies, with its trail of mayhem that has marred the campaigns, is a bitter reminder that elections are still a do-or-die affair in Nigeria. These acts of violence were not spontaneous mob action, they were orchestrated. This is very regrettable given the assurance of a violence-free election promised by all politicians during publicized debates amongst the parties.
But violence in whatever circumstance is reprehensible. It is undemocratic, primitive, and antithetical to the credibility of elections. What is made obvious by electoral violence in Anambra or any other state is the irreverent trans-valuation of elections from a sacred political duty or an act of social contract to a havoc-wreaking orgy of senseless gangsterism. Politicians, who indulge in violence when dignified and enlightened confrontation should suffice, have no ideas of how to move Anambra forward. If elections, sacred as they are amongst civilized communities, have become an arena for carnage, then, by all means, it is a disincentive to good people who may want to exercise their franchise according to the dictates of their conscience.
It is a sad and lamentable episode in Nigeria’s political history that politicians have continued to resort to primitive, bully tactics to win votes. It is incredible to imagine the kind of leader that will emerge from elections marred by violence. The crisis in Anambra has once again highlighted the incontrovertible diagnosis that there can be no democracy without democrats. The culture of service, which appreciates that after politics comes governance, must take root. This will put an end to career politicians, who live on the system instead of living for it. At this stage of Nigeria’s political development, elections require nobility and decency. If politicians and their spin doctors must resort to any face-off it should be more edifying. It is a pity that elections in Nigeria have never been conducted without innocent blood soaking the soil and from the sound of war gong in every nook and cranny of this nation presently, the battle for the soul of Anambra with the final act billed for November 6, is most unlikely to be different. The world is watching.
