Anambra Poll: INEC’s Big Bungle By Abiodun Babatunde

These days, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission,
especially its head and chief proponent, Professor Attahiru Jega, will
find it difficult to wear genuine smiles in public, because of the
monumental failure called Anambra. With years of preparations (from the
last elections that brought in sitting Governor, Peter Obi), what the
people of Anambra, and indeed the whole nation, got for gubernatorial
elections was, to put it decently, a goof.
Fears are already being expressed that what happened in Anambra was a
prelude to the forthcoming presidential elections. That may be an extreme
position, but opponents of Jega, even within the ruling Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), are uneasy with the prospect of an inconclusive presidential
election in a politically volatile Nigeria.
On television at the weekend, Jega tried to put on the face of a man on
top of the situation, but by Sunday night, it was obvious that Jega’s men
in Anambra had bungled big time. With tails between their legs, they
faced the public to declare they could not proclaim a winner, though All
Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate, Willie Obiano, was in an
emphatic lead with released results.
If Obiano was gloating over cruising to victory, political foes like Dr.
Chris Ngige (APC), Comrade Tony Nwoye (PDP), and Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah (Labour
Party), were wearing long faces, like the top brass in the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Maitama, Abuja. That
is if they were not party to the alleged charade. But beyond the actual
elections, there were accusations that thugs were hired from Southwest
zone to muscle a particular doctor into power.
With an election that featured a “Made in Japan” doctor, and a “Made in
Taiwan” doctor, many did not have to think up the party that could hire
thugs from the stronghold of the self-styled leader of Yorubaland. The
same situation is believed to have played out in Ondo and Edo States when
gubernatorial elections held there. In one of the states, one player got
so brazen he allegedly brought in militants from the Niger Delta to secure
victory.
INEC has said it would hold supplementary elections in places where
elections were canceled in Anambra as a result of logistic problems. The
election might have been held by the time this piece is published. It
had declared the election inconclusive. That might be INEC’s position,
but the three other gladiators thought and still think otherwise, because
the commission played into their hands, in the full glare of everyone.
According to the three newfound political friends: “We, Senator Dr. Chris
Nwabueze Ngige, Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah and Comrade Tony Nwoye, candidates
of All Progressives Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP) and Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) respectively, hereby call for the total
cancellation of Anambra State Governorship Election held on the 16th Nov.
2013.
“We are making this clarion call for total cancellation of the election
because it was marred by gross irregularities emanating from: gross
manipulation of the Voters Register leading to disenfranchisement of
thousands of innocent voters; illegal removal of result sheets, doctoring
of the said result sheets and massive removal of ballot booklet and
thumb-printing of the said ballot papers; harassment and intimidation of
Polling Agents and voters by security officials and party thugs; use of
Voters Registers in some Local Government Councils different from the
Voters Registers made available to candidates; late arrival of electoral
materials; and Manufacturing of results in many polling units where no
voting took place.
“We are of the candid view that the sham election does not reflect the
wishes and aspirations of Anambra voters. Our call for the cancellation
of this election is reinforced by the public admission by Professor
Attahiru Jega, the INEC chairman that some INEC staff sabotaged the
conduct of the Election. This call for the cancellation of the Election
would have been unnecessary if INEC had postponed the conduct of the
election after becoming aware of the sabotage of the election by INEC
officials.”
But bent on the supplementary elections, INEC announced that it would hold
them in over 200 polling units with 113,113 voters. Idemili North Local
Government Area, one of the strong political bases of Senator Chris Ngige.
Details of the contentious results released, and which integrity has been
called to question, showed Wiillie Obiano with 174, 710 votes; PDP’s
Comrade Tony Nwoye 94,856 votes, while Senator Chris Ngige of APC polled
93,300 votes.
Seeing INEC in the mud, the propaganda machinery of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) went its full cylinders, thundering: ”First, the
electoral commission proposed make-up election in only 65 polling units in
Obosi before scaling things up to a supplementary election ‘in those areas
where election was cancelled’. But we say, without equivocating, that a
total cancellation of the election and the organization of a fresh poll,
under the supervision of a credible Resident Electoral Commissioner, will
be acceptable to our party
”It is not enough for INEC’s detached Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to
tell the nation that an INEC official sabotaged the election in a certain
part of the state; he must tell the nation who this fellow is, who he/she
is working for, what is the extent of the damage he/she has done to this
and previous elections, and whether or not he/she has access to the
commission’s database of voters’ register, which was apparently tampered
with for Saturday’s election.
”Prof. Jega must also tell Nigerians why 16 Electoral Commissioners, who
migrated to Anambra days before the election ostensibly to supervise
things, could not ensure the success of an election in a single state,
when even a polling unit behind the INEC office in Awka did not get voting
materials till after 9 am on Election Day.”
Well, now that the APC has lost out again, with the active connivance of
the INEC officials or otherwise, the newspaper pages and airwaves will
witness a cacophony of clanging cymbals of the party desperate to have a
Southeast State. It was so desperate it sent a known destroyer of Igbo
landed property in Abuja during his infamous demolition exercise to
Anambra. But someone who may bear the full brunt of APC’s anger is Jega.
But does he deserve people’s sympathy? Answer to this poser is blowing in
the air.
· Babatunde, a public affairs commentator, wrote in from Abuja.