By Harry Awurumibe, who was in AWKA
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the lead actor in the just concluded 2021 Anambra State Governorship Election’s role in the delivery of a free, fair and credible election as highlighted in the first part of this piece published on Thursday, November 11, 2021 conferred to the Commission as one of the biggest winners of the election.
Aside the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo and his Deputy Gilbert Ibezim who won the election and were officially declared winners, some other stakeholders played their roles to have a smooth conduct of the November 6 Governorship Election.
These include INEC, Voters, Media, Security Agencies, Civil Society Organisations (CSO), Observers,
National Peace Committee (NPC) led by former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar and Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah.
Others were Traditional and Religious Leaders within and outside Anambra state and South East Political Leaders as well as the apex Igbo social-cultural group Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide that added their voices to appeal of a peaceful conduct of the election.
Specifically, the South East Political Leaders including the former Governor of Anambra state, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife; Ebonyi State Governor David Nweze Umahi and the apex Igbo social-cultural group Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide tried their best to appeal to proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafran (IPOB) to rescind their threat of “no election in Anambra state”.
It must be pointed out that the withdrawal of the threat, did not still assure the people of their safety in Anambra hence there was mass exodus of none Anambrarians on the eve of election day with commercial vehicles overwhelmed by the sheer number of passengers that surged at the various motor parks in Anambra trying to catch the last transport out of the state to avoid being caught in the middle of the envisaged bloodbath that will trail the election.
However, it will be foolhardy to think that the tension in the state will go down or the people of Anambra state would trooped out to vote in the face of the palpable fears of attacks by none state actors and the militarization of the state ahead of November 6 polls day if all the bodies mentioned above did not play their roles to douse the tension before, during and immediately after the election and the Ihiala Supplementary Election that followed.
For this reason, the Federal Government and the Nigerian security agencies under the command of the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari must be commended for providing water-tight security for the people of Anambra state and everyone involved in the delivery of the election.
Unlike in some previous Governorship Elections across the country, incidents of security agencies colluding with election riggers were minimal or non-existent in Anambra election, although INEC’s new voting technology, Bimodal Voting Accreditation System (BVAS) has eliminated some of these infractions.
Also, the role of General Abubakar and Bishop Kukah whose Committee got the 18 political parties and their candidates to all come forward at Professor Dora Akunyili Women’s Developments Center in Awka on Thursday, November 4 to sign Peace Accord, will not go unnoticed. These Elder Statesmen risked the security challenges to be present in Awka for the occasion.
The vibrant Nigerian Media once again stood up to be counted in the successful conduct of the Anambra governorship election with the massive reportage devoted to it by both the mainstream and online/new media. At every point the lead stakeholder (INEC) had relied on the media to publicise its activities and programme.
The local and international Observer Groups, CSOs and other sister agencies were on ground to perform their duties; to put other stakeholders in check.
But the most important winner of the 2021 Anambra Governorship Election are the Voters who defied every odds to cast their votes for their preferred candidates on the election day.
Reports from across all the 21 Local Government Areas (LGA) of Anambra state showed determined people ready to cast their votes regardless of fear of the unknown. Men, women, youths and People With Disabilities (PWD) trooped out to vote.
At many Polling Units, the elderly and pregnant women came out to vote with some standing on the queue for a long time to be able to cast their votes.
At last, election was held, results harvested from all Polling Units to the Collation Centers and after the tabulation, the party with the highest number of total votes cast was declared winner by the Returning officer, Professor Florence Obi who is also the Vice Chancellor of University of Calabar. And the winner is Professor Soludo.
On the other hand, the biggest loser of the November 6 Anambra state Governorship Election is incumbent Deputy Governor, Dr. Nkem Okeke who dumped his Principal, Governor Willie Maduaburochukwu Obiano and APGA in the wee hours of the election to pitch his tent with the candidate of All Progressive Congress (APC), Senator Emmanuel Andy Uba.
In the true nature of a typical Nigerian politician, the Enugu-Ukwu-born Okeke who has been the Deputy Governor of Anambra State since March 17, 2014, abandoned the ship he is still a co-captain in the middle of sharks-infested deep blue sea.
Unfortunately for him, his political calculation failed him as his new party (APC) and Uba finished a distance third place in the Anambra governorship election, beating hands down by APGA and the runner up People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Chief Valentine Ozigbo.
Today, Okeke who had also served as Anambra State Commissioner for Economic Planning, and Commissioner for Works and Transport in the administration of ex- Governor Peter Obi, will have no face to go about his duties as the sitting Deputy Governor of Anambra state.
He has become a “political leper” as far as Governor Obiano and APGA are concerned and he has to live with the mockery that has come with the bad choice he had made.
Aside, Okeke, those members of the Anambra State House of Assembly (ASHA), some Federal lawmakers and personal aides of Governor Obiano who also dumped him and APGA are now licking their wounds as their new parties failed to win the election.
Other losers are the candidates of little known political parties outside the “Big Four” namely APGA, PDP, APC and Young Progressive Party (YPP) whose flagbearer, Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah defeated even APGA to win his LGA in the hotly contested November 6 governorship election.
Also, other losers are Pessimists and Election Riggers or Political Fraudsters who were disappointed by INEC neutrality in the conduct of the election and majorly, the introduction of new technology, BVAS.
This device ensured that the era of multiple voting on election days are far gone.
Finally, counting their loses are Vote Buyers who were rejected in most parts of Anambra state with one woman caught on tape rejecting a cash inducement of the sum of five hundred naira (N500) or five thousand naira (N5,000) as the case may be.
It goes without saying that if INEC continues to perfect the use of technology to conduct elections in Nigeria and voters continue to reject financial inducements, the country will be the biggest beneficiary as our elections will no longer be “a do or die affairs”, apologies to a former President of Federal Republic of Nigeria.