million voters in Anambra State is
expected to participate in the election
of a governor for the 22-year-old state.
Any of the candidates of the various
political parties, who emerges as
governor, would take oath of office on
March 17, 2014.
The last time the people of Anambra
voted on February 6, 2010, more than
half of the voting population could not
find their names in the voters' register.
At the end of the day, only about
300,000 people voted, just a little less
than 20 per cent of the voting
population.
But today, all the participants in the
election have certified that the voters'
register is in good shape after several
reviews by the Independent National
Electoral Commission.
The race had been long and windy for
most of the candidates. But at the end
of the day 23 men, no woman, are on
their marks, getting ready for the final
dash across the finishing line today.
Up till Thursday last week, when the
Supreme Court declared former student
leader, Tony Nwoye as being eligible to
contest, one of the major political
parties, the Peoples Democratic Party,
was not certain about whether it would
eventually present a candidate for the
election.
So, it turned out a relief for the PDP
that finally, Nwoye would, would be its
standard-bearer in the election.
Whether the late entry would take a toll
on the party's performance in the
election is a matter to be determined by
the electorate. Some other political
parties have issues similar to the PDP's
as there are subtle disputes over
candidatures.
Issues that could shape the election
Four years ago, the issue of zoning of
the governorship was not on the
agenda. Of the six top contenders for
the office of the governorship then,
three of them; Dr. Chris Ngige (Action
Congress), Peter Obi (All Progressives
Grand Alliance) and Uche Ekwunife
(Progressive Peoples Alliance) were
from the Anambra Central Senatorial
Zone, the other three, Prof. Chukwuma
Soludo (Peoples Democratic Party), Andy
Uba (Labour Party) and Nicholas
Ukachukwu (Hope Democratic Party)
were from the Anambra South
Senatorial Zone; and this was not
considered a serious issue during the
election. In this election, however,
zoning became prominent after the
people of Anambra North Senatorial
Zone declared that nobody from the
zone had been elected governor since
the state was created in 1991 Thus
began the clamour for Anambra North
to produce the governor.
Incidentally, Anambra North zone is the
least developed in terms of
infrastructure and human resources.
Their leaders had reckoned that the
zone's limited access to government
must have been responsible for the
slow development of the area. They,
therefore, moved that for them to
support any political party such a party
must zone its governorship candidacy to
Anambra North.
After many meetings and declarations
by political leaders from the zone, the
state Governor, Peter Obi, was sold on
the idea of Anambra North producing
the next governor of the state.
He repeatedly explained that his
position was in the interest of equity
and fair play. After an initial resistance
from some members of his party, the
governor had his way and member of
the party, Chief Willie Obiano, emerged
at APGA candidate.
The PDP eventually elected its own
candidate, Mr. Tony Nwoye, from
Anambra North, a development that
thrown the race wide open given the
fact that the two other prominent
candidates, Ngige and Ifeanyi Uba of the
Labour Party come from Anambra
Central and Anambra South
respectively. Those who have argued
against zoning have said that allotting
the position of governor to zones in
rotation could divide the state along
sectional lines. They have also said that
zoning had the potential of promoting
mediocrity over merit. Also, they argued
that zoning had never been an issue
within Anambra political class, which had
always contested the governorship of
the state irrespective of zones.
'Godfather politics' also came up for
debate during the electioneering. Apart
from the candidate of the Labour Party,
Ifeanyi Uba, and that of the Progressive
Peoples Alliance, Godwin Ezeemo, who
are believed to be personally funding
their elections, virtually all the other
candidates have godfather figures
behind them.
Instructively, none of the candidates
actually appeared with blueprints on
how to end the major concerns of the
people, which are mainly insecurity,
provision of water and poor state of
roads.
At a point the campaigns degenerated
into mudslinging and destruction of the
campaign posters and billboards of
opposing candidates.
Then came the political debates
organised by broadcast organisations
and interest groups in the state. These
debates exposed the public speaking
capabilities of the candidates.
At the end of the campaigns, certain
messages came out about the agenda of
the five leading candidates. Obiano of
APGA kept emphasising his resolve to
continue with the programmes of
Governor Peter Obi anchored on the
Anambra Integrated Development
Strategy. He, however, added a four-
sector development agenda anchored
on industrialisation, agriculture, oil and
gas and education.
Ngige of APC, who was governor
between 2003 and 2006, anchored his
campaign on the need to return him as
governor to complete the
developmental programmes, he
initiated when he was governor. Ubah of
the LP promised to deploy his
entrepreneurial skills to attract
development to the state, a similar
campaign approach by Ezeemo of PPA.
The PDP candidate, Tony Nwoye, whose
candidacy was only secured barely a
week before the election, scarcely made
out a programme of action. He did not
participate in any of the political
debates. His camp spent most of the
time left consulting traditional rulers,
opinion leaders and the respective
leaders of their town unions. Whichever
way the people vote today will depend
on the sentiments of where the
candidate comes from, political party
affiliation and pecuniary factors. While
the Catholic Church played an influential
role in past elections, the Church's
influence might not make much
difference this time around because all
the top contenders are Catholics who
have contributed substantial support to
the church.
Chances of the major contenders
To many observers, the election is too
close to call. Some people have
predicted that the winner might not
emerge at the first ballot, given that the
eventual winner will not only have to
win the majority of votes cast, but will
also have to have a spread of votes,
winning at least 25 per cent of the votes
in 14 of the 21 local government areas.
The way it looks, it is only the PDP and
APGA candidates that can have the
needed spread given the nature of their
support base, which cuts across the
entire state. APC looks good to garner
huge votes and if it wins the majority
vote, its win might be flawed in spread
of votes. APC's candidate has a cult
following among the masses, he is most
popular in the two Idemili local
government areas, which incidentally
have the highest voting populations.
Banking on the incumbency factor,
Obiano of APGA could come out with a
good spread of votes and he is expected
to lead in local governments like
Anaocha, where the governor comes
from, Anambra West, Ogbaru, Onitsha
North, Onitsha South, Awka North,
Njikoka and one of the Orumba local
government areas. Anambra East where
both the PDP and APGA candidates
come from could be fairly shared by the
two parties. The PDP candidate, Nwoye
is blessed with a large membership base
of the PDP which is spread across the
state. He is most likely to win in
Ayamelum, Oyi, Dunukofia and Ihiala.
The divisions within the ranks of the
party may create problems for him in
Nnewi South and Aguata.
The Labour Party candidate, Mr. Ifeanyi
Ubah, is very likely to win in his home
local government, Nnewi North and
Ekwusigo. He will have sprinkling of
votes across a few other local
government areas, considering that his
party has little traditional support bases
across the state. The fifth candidate is
Godwin Ezeemo, who has been very
active in the field and whose
philanthropic gestures might win him
some good support from the voters. But
his impact may not be very strong, even
in his home local government, Aguata.
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