Anambra is
synonymous with political godfatherism. The reputation was gained from a trend
that started from the first governorship election in 1999. But on Saturday, the
tides turned as a virtual “orphan” carried the day in a manner that left
nothing to dispute.
The old
trend had led to recurrent instability in the state. As soon as an election is
over, the godfather and the godson begin an unending battle for supremacy at
the expense of the people.
The
political godfather usually brings the godson to the limelight of politics and
introduces the latter to the people that matter. However, the godson having
clinched the seat with the support of the godfather both financially and
otherwise, seeks to sideline the sponsor and renege on their agreements. This
may be as a result of over-lordship by the godfather wanting to dominate the
government, giving directives and controlling the administration.
In fact, for
each electoral cycle in Anambra, there was a godfather.
1999-2003:
CHINWOKE MBADINUJU AND EMEKA OFFOR
After the
return to democracy in 1998, Chinwoke Mbadinuju became the Peoples Democratic
Party candidate for Anambra State governorship after a stiff competition with
A. B. C. Nwosu, a professor who later became Minister of Health under former
President Olusegun Obasanjo. Mr. Mbadinuju was elected governor in April 1999
and is still derided as posting the worst performance in the office since the
creation of the state in 1991.
Mr.
Mbadinuju’s campaign was bankrolled by Emeka Offor, a businessman. After a
fallout between godson and godfather, the face-off between the two men crippled
the machinery of government in the state. By September 2002, unpaid teachers
had been on strike for a year and civil servants and court workers had been on
strike for months.
2003- 2006:
CHRIS NGIGE AND CHRIS UBA
Among the
politicians Chris Uba, another businessman, “sponsored” in 2003 was PDP
gubernatorial candidate, Chris Ngige. The terms of their relationship were
spelled out in remarkably explicit fashion in a written “contract” and
“declaration of loyalty” that Mr. Ngige signed prior to the election. It is
widely believed that a copy of the contract was authenticated at the infamous
Okija shrine.
Relations
between Mr. Ngige and Mr. Uba deteriorated rapidly after the polls. In July
2003, Governor Ngige after rejecting some of Mr. Uba’s demands, was kidnapped
by armed police officers and forced at gunpoint to sign a “letter of
resignation.” Mr. Ngige earned the unenviable reputation of being the first
governor in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic to be kidnapped from the Government
House.
Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige and Chris Uba.
[Photo credit: The newafricanpress]
2006-2014:
PETER OBI AND EMEKA OJUKWU
Emeka
Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the late Biafra warlord, was one of the most revered Igbo
leaders. He led his people into the civil war in 1967.
Emeka Ojukuwu. [Photo credit: THEWILL]
Although he
did not go far in his own presidential bid in 2003, there is no doubt that his
influence helped the then relatively unknown Peter Obi to win the governorship
contest in Anambra State in 2003. That victory was not upheld until the court
ruled that the election was won by the candidate of Mr. Ojukwu’s All
Progressives Grand Alliance.
Peter Obi
Mr. Ojukwu’s
name and image became even more iconic as Mr. Obi sought re-election in 2010.
“Vote him, this is my last wish”, the aged Mr. Ojukwu pleaded with the voters
of Anambra on behalf of Mr. Obi who was re-elected despite the strong financial
and political forces marshalled by his challengers.
2015-2017:
WILLIE OBIANO AND PETER OBI
Willie
Obiano who left the banking sector to join politics in 2013 was no doubt a
novice on the political terrain and unarguably a new name to the people. Just
like in the other cases, Governor Obi, who was about to leave office,
handpicked and introduced Mr. Obiano to the state’s electorate after helping
him to secure the APGA governorship ticket. He won the election and was sworn
in on March 17, 2014 to succeed Mr. Obi.
Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano A former
governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi [Photo: Concise News]
However, as
usual, trouble broke out between the two shortly after Governor Obiano’s
inauguration. Mr. Obi claimed he left N75 billion in the government’s coffers
but Mr. Obiano said he only met N35.5 billion. Mr. Obi left APGA after an
internal crisis hit the party and joined the PDP, which was at the time in
power at the federal level.
SATURDAY’S
ELECTION
It was not
surprising that analysts had the foregoing at the back of their minds while
predicting the outcome of Saturday’s election.
In all the
previous governorship elections in the state, a godfather and his godson had
manoeuvred their way into office. That changed on Saturday.
The squaring
up in the build up to the election was quite spectacular. Mr. Obi, already a
kingmaker, anointed Oseloka Obaze, the PDP candidate whose emergence left many
stalwarts of the party disgruntled. Mr. Obi’s main aim was to unseat the
incumbent governor who, according to him, had not performed well. Many viewed
Mr. Obi’s move as political vendetta at the expense of the people of Anambra.
APGA agent given INEC officials money at Nnewi
ichi ward ..Polling unit 003 APGA agent sharing gala and malt at Polling unit
020 and 021. Community primary school 1/2 Abatete
Voters at Orie market square Okpoko ward at
Ogbaru at 11:48. There is no queue, no organization and people here don't know
how to vote.
“We finally
broke the jinx of godfatherism, which has been existing in the state from the
beginning”, Allison Onyeji, the traditional prime minister of Ufuma community
in Anambra said after the poll.
Mr. Onyeji
explained to PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Obi was the godfather of Mr. Obaze, the PDP
candidate, while Arthur Eze sponsored the APC candidate, Tony Nwoye. He said
Mr. Obiano was on his own.
“The only
godfather I will say he has is the people and so we voted him according to our
wish. Even though many collected money, after collecting they still voted their
conscience”, Mr. Onyeji added.
“What we
decided was that we don’t need anybody to show us a good leader. We the people
have eyes to assess you and if we see you have performed well and is equal to
the task, we will vote you and that is what happened on Saturday,” Mr. Onyeji
said.
Obaze Osita Chidoka, the UPP candidate,
arrived his polling unit 030 at Central School 3 at 9.55am, but the officials
at the unit just started setting up.
Governor Willie Obiano arrived his polling
unit at Eri Primary Sch, 004 Otuocha 1
Another
governorship aspirant in the state who backed Mr. Obiano in this election told
PREMIUM TIMES about how the campaign success was achieved.
First we let
the people know that “APGA is our (Igbo’s) own,” he said. Then we spread the
slogan that “if it’s not broken, why change it” especially as everybody knew
Obiano was performing well, the source, who asked not to be named, said.
The source,
a core supporter of the governor, explained that long before the day of the
election, Mr. Obiano had penetrated “98 per cent of churches” market unions and
town union.
“We knew
there was no way we would lose,” he said.
THE PEOPLE
SPOKE THROUGH THE BALLOT
Out of the
422,314 valid votes, Mr. Obiano won in all the 21 local government areas of the
state to poll 234,071 votes.
The situation of the card readers being
explained to an INEC superior at Eri 1 004 Otuocha1 Manual accreditation going
on at PU 003 Ubuluisiozor Ihiala LGA voting exercise has commence at AkwuEgbo
central school Uruagu otolo nnewi..the card reader is working perfectly..only 4
persons have casted their vote as at time of report.
Mr. Obiano
was followed from a distance by the APC candidate, Mr. Nwoye, who polled 98,752
votes.
Mr. Obaze of
the PDP returned third with 70,293 votes, while Osita Chidoka of United
Progressives Party, UPP, came a distant fourth after garnering 7,903 votes.
This shows
that Governor Obiano trumped all his opponents and their sponsors in their
various local government areas.
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