The greatest fear, perhaps, of Saturday’s inconclusive governorship election in Anambra where voting was first extended to Sunday, and then supplementary election on Tuesday in Ihiala LGA, is that the 2023 general election is threatened. Anambra was, for the purpose of that election, a prototype Nigeria; and if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could not organize a hitch-free poll in one state, how can it do so simultaneously in 36 states? This fear has been vindicated by events in Anambra, whose governorship election was widely anticipated as a barometer for the 2023 presidential vote. Anambra was a key test of electoral credibility for INEC and its chairman, Mahmood Yakubu; but the fact that the much hyped election was inconclusive and a winner could not be declared; and the entire exercise was marred by widespread logistic glitches and irregularities, raising fears for a free and fair election come 2023 certainly, did not portend positive signals for future elections. The shoddy manner in which the election was conducted not only belittled Nigerians and Nigeria before the international community, more importantly, it advertised to the whole world a certain Nigerian definition of elections that diminishes the exercise and mocks the primacy of the democratic process. With 2023 close by, the Anambra experience offers very little hope for optimism and if the electoral process does not improve, democracy will continue to be mocked with impunity.
In his message to INEC staff ahead of Saturday’s vote, an upbeat Yakubu said despite challenges in the build-up to the poll, including attacks on the commission’s facilities, “Nigerians expect the Anambra governorship election to be an improvement on the high standards achieved in recent elections. That is why we introduced the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for fingerprint and facial biometric authentication of voters. We have trained staff on the new technology. We have also delivered all sensitive and non-sensitive materials for the election on schedule, deployed election duty staff and made logistics arrangements to move personnel and materials to thousands of locations in Anambra State where voting and collation of results will take place. It is therefore imperative for all of you to ensure that every single vote counts. You must remain true to our commitment that only the voters in Anambra State, determine who becomes the next governor of the state.”
But contrary to the high expectation, sundry contradictions surfaced. These included late arrival of polling materials, low voter turnout, non-mobilization of INEC electoral officials financially to move to their duty stations, leaving them stranded, sporadic incidents of ballot box snatching, inadequate security deployment in rural areas, resulting in the failure to deploy staff and materials to Ihiala LGA,. Above all, there was the monumental failure of the Bimodal Verification Accreditation System (BVAS) to capture and accredit voters. Chukwuma Soludo, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate in the election, only cast his vote after waiting for over five hours. Besides serving as a bellwether for the 2023 presidential election, Anambra 2021 was also a reference point in election militarization, even as it was characterized by fear, tension and malfunction of devices; amid confusion occasioned by a sit-at-home order imposed by the pro-separatist Independent People of Biafra (IPOB). Given the above contradictions, the outcome was easily predictable – an electoral fiasco.
There was no excuse for INEC, whatsoever, to have delivered such a poor performance, other than gross incompetence, partiality, corruption or mischief. First, it was an election in only one state, and one of the smallest states in Nigeria for that matter; with an estimated 2.5 million registered voters scattered across 5,640 polling units. No fewer than 36,000 police officers, excluding the Department of State Services (DSS), Civil Defence, military and other special operatives armed to the teeth were deployed to the state for the November 6 poll. Military and police helicopters hovered round the state in aerial surveillance, even as joint security teams did round the clock ground patrols. Security patrol teams comprising a long convoy of sniffer dogs, armored tankers and ambulances occupied all major road junctions. As such, INEC had more than adequate material, personnel and security wherewithal to do a diligent job, if capable of doing one. With such a thick security blanket across the state, how can anyone explain why supplementary elections have to be held in Ihiala because of insecurity? This election offered an important test case for what to expect come 2023 and INEC should have seized the moment to send the right signals about its capacity. Alas, that was not to be.
The open admittance and declaration by INEC that the election was flawed and voting was extended to Sunday, to accommodate voters who were unable to vote due to malfunctioning of the BVAS, doesn’t offer any hope of redemption in terms of voter apathy. It is very unlikely that most disenfranchised voters who could not be accredited by BVAS returned the next day to vote. Dr. Nkwachukwu Orji, the state INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) said INEC “is currently investigating the reason the accreditation devices, Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), have worked perfectly in some Polling Units, but not in others.” He admitted that deployment was adversely affected by transportation challenges in some locations. “It must be noted that on account of security concerns, some of the transporters that were mobilized and collected 50 per cent of their sign-on fee backed out at the last moment, leaving some of our ad-hoc staff stranded. Also, some of the trained ad-hoc staff backed out at the last moment. The Commission is on top of these challenges and extant regulations and guidelines will be applied.”
By its own reckoning, INEC missed a historic opportunity the election offered it to salvage its battered public image and gain some measure of public confidence ahead of 2023. Nigerians are yet to be convinced that the outcome of the election will be accepted by all the stakeholders given INEC’s own public confession. Electoral malpractices in Anambra State have become a recurring decimal. In the 2003, 2007 and 2014 elections, similar irregularities were experienced. The contradictions of the 2021 election have once again underlined the problem of electoral misconduct that have bedeviled Nigeria since independence and have incrementally worsened over the years. However, the bigger issue is that if elections could not be conclusive in a single state despite the concentration of resources, both human and financial, it portends serious implication for nation-wide electoral exercise.
Something is fundamentally wrong. The problem this time is not the Anambra people who have significantly conducted themselves peacefully despite the massive disenfranchisement. It lies squarely on the electoral umpire, INEC. Pointing accusing fingers to the 18 candidates under the circumstances would be diversionary. The administration of the election was fundamentally flawed as manifested in the attendant problems. INEC’s credibility as an institution has been compromised in this exercise. If the election was well conducted, the hiccups would have been avoided. The failure of INEC to pull through the Anambra election is demoralizing; and it accentuates in no small measure, the body’s incapacity to conduct the 2023 general elections.
It is, however, pertinent to commend the people of Anambra for the peaceful manner in which they comported themselves, despite all provocations by INEC. No one has done anything to compromise the peace and stability of the state and stakeholders who feel disaffected seem to have opted to challenge the electoral process and outcome in court. This is not only commendable for the reason of peace and stability, it would help in eventually establishing the credibility or otherwise of the process, conferring legitimacy or otherwise on the outcome. It is, therefore, the expectation of all Nigerians that the court would live up to its responsibility and do justice in the case of the Anambra election. Given negative perception that is spreading fast about the integrity of the judiciary, this is yet another opportunity for the court to acquit itself and reassert its true character as a true temple of justice.
Barring any unexpected surprises, it seems inevitable that the APGA candidate, Prof Soludo will win the flawed election as his party has already been declared winner in 18 of the 21 LGA in the state. Either way, the winner will be dogged by the fact that the process that produced a governor-elect was a flawed one which merely gave a seal to illegitimacy; producing a winner with less than a wholesome approval of the electorate. INEC admitted issues with the BVAS technology and while this is not in doubt, the blame must be put squarely on INEC. This was a colossal failure of leadership; an election is not a one-day event; rather it is a process. The point at issue here is the failure of the electoral institution more than the constraints of the actual conduct of election itself. It translates into a colossal waste of resources, which Nigerians have put at the disposal of INEC. In effect, what happened was a damning example of how an institution can single handedly derail the course of a country.
Besides, it is also an indictment of the country’s leadership, that 22 years into the fourth republic, the expected culture of conducting free elections is yet to take root. This Anambra election is significant for the singular reason that it was supposed to be the litmus test of coming electoral exercises, especially the 2023 general election. Sadly the exercise has not only undermined the optimism of a hitch-free general election, it casts a huge pall of illusion on the future of Nigerian democracy. Having accepted responsibility for the present quagmire arising from the election, INEC has a duty to correct the identified and the hidden anomalies. Above all, it must ensure that the election outcome ultimately and fully reflects the genuine desire of the Anambra people.
