Why Obiano won Anambra election (1)

By UCHEM OBI
The Anambra governorship election has come and gone, with Dr. Willie Obiano emerging winner. As usual, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has come under severe knocks, especially from some of the losers in the poll. However, INEC should be commended for its uncommon courage to conclude the election despite obvious challenges and accusations of electoral malpractices. It was quite cheering that a preponderance of independent observers agreed that the hiccups in the election were not fundamental enough, to warrant total cancellation of the whole exercise, as advocated by some people.
Rather, a supplementary election was slated for isolated polling areas, where there was manifest evidence of unpreparedness and manipulation. We are yet to be told the brains behind that sabotage. Results of the supplementary election did not change the face of the election. It only confirmed the superiority of the All Progressive Grand Alliance in the election. Obiano was in a world of his own, claiming a landslide victory over his nearest opponent.
Candidates of three major parties in the election, Dr. Chris Ngige of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Mr. Tony Nwoye of the Peoples Democratic Party and Mr. Ifeanyi Uba of Labour Party, have all respectively rejected the results of the election. With INEC having concluded the election to the best of its ability, I believe that the next available option is for the aggrieved candidate to challenge the results of the election at the Tribunal.
They would be legally exercising their fundamental rights, should they decide to try their luck at the Tribunal. I speak of luck in the real sense because, though without prejudice to their choices of action, I do not think, that the decisions of the Tribunal may be different from the declared results of the election. I say this with a deep sense of responsibility because I suspect, that the decision to reject the result of the election and challenge same at the Tribunal may have been more of emotive responses to the anger of defeat, the frustrations of failure and the perplexity of punctured ego than any hard evidence of electoral fraud, sufficient enough to invalidate the declared result of the election.
Political factors, errors of judgment and sheer hard work were real factors which worked together to ensure Obiano’s success. The first of these factors is the enigma called Governor Peter Obi. The opposition took him for granted at their own peril. They chose to deny the existing fact, that Obi has grown immensely from the neophyte politician of 2003 to become to become a formidable diplomat, with incredible street understanding of Anambra political terrain.
The first mistake the opposition made was to fail to respect the incumbent governor’s astuteness. They looked on as the Governor began a systematic but revolutionary style of governance, which gave Anambra’s simple folks large roles in service delivery in their respective communities. He began by introducing a parliamentary system of administration in the towns in the state where economically empowered and status – improved traditional rulers were happy to become ceremonial leaders in their respective towns. Executive functions of village administration now devolved on the influential Presidents – General (PGs) of town unions and their executive members.
Unlike our modern traditional rulers who are often isolated from their simple subjects, the PGs are everyday people, ordinary folks, who mingled daily with ordinary people. They sat together in Town Union and age grade meetings. They feel the pulse of the people, know their state of minds at every given time and because the PGs have been given unhindered access to the governor, he (the governor) got to know, that the people said, what they wanted and how they waited it.
The governor made the people responsible for government projects sited in their communities. He would appear at a town union meeting with everybody in attendance, traditional rulers, PGs and ordinary people and in their full glare, hand over the money value of projects for them to execute them by themselves. The people suddenly became important. They became responsible for their own projects, hire their own contractors and supervise the execution of their own projects, in their own way, with this styles, the governor took governance beyond pedestrian marks and succeeded in establishing a powerful bond with the most common people in the state and nothing wins over simple folks as much as their recognition by powerful people. These ordinary people constitute the majority of voters in the state and they answered he governor’s clarion call to vote for Obiano.
The second factor was the towering personality of Ojukwu often invoked by APGA. Unknown to many people, Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Eze Igbo gburugburu enjoys more cult-like respect and fanatical followership in death than alive. Today, Ikemba has become some kind of deity ad his wishes are honoured as the pronouncements of an oracle. The people see APGA as Ojukwu’s legacy and during the concluded election, they rose up, determined to sustain the legacy of the “Supreme Commander”.
The third factor was an odd mixture of ignorance, arrogance and poor judgment that secured the inadvertent assistance of opposition parties for Obiano’s election. For instance, APC chieftains committed tactical blunder when they propped up Ngige. They obviously assessed the medical doctor by his past popularity in the state. Of a truth, Ngige enjoyed enormous support and sympathy in the state between 2003 – 2006, more because of the persecution he suffered in the hands of powers that be then. Ten years have since passed and political equations have greatly changed. Ngige has moved on from being a governor to becoming a senator and just two years in the senate, he wanted to become a governor again. Not a few people saw this as simply over-bearing.

To be continued

•Mr.Uchem Obi, Willie Obiano Equity  Campaign Group.