Anambra Election Debate Session of Mud Slinging

Nseobong Okon-Ekong and Vanessa Obioha dissect the recent televised debate of governorship candidates of the three leading political parties in the November 6 Anambra State governorship contest and reveal that it was disappointingly a continuation of bitter rivalry

The recent ARISE News Channel Anambra Governorship Debate may be misleading to anyone tuning in at that moment. The debate which was organised in conjunction with the Enough-is-Enough (EiE) group saw the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) discuss their plans and projects if they assumed the number One seat in the state.
Expectedly, they had divergent views on the various topics; the candidates, Senator Andy Uba of APC, Professor Chukwuma Soludo of APGA and Valentine Ozigbo of the PDP, however, spent more time dragging themselves in the mud of infamy than selling themselves to the electorates.

For most part of the over two-hour debate, Soludo and Uba pointed fingers at each other, rather than proffering solutions to problems. They argued over insecurity, when Soludo brazenly hinted that the current wave of violence and killings in the state is a machination of Uba, apparently referencing the 2003 abduction of Senator Chris Ngige who was governor of Anambra State at the time. One of Andy brothers was fingered as the mastermind of the forceful seizure of Ngige, who is now Minister of Labour and Employment.

“There are some people who think that they gain political advantage by creating a sense of fear and insecurity so that you will have voter suppression,” Soludo stated.

Denying the allegation vehemently, Uba insisted that he is not a violent person and could not be found behaving violently. While condemning the current governor, Willie Obiano for his lacklustre handling of insecurity, Uba reiterated his believe in engaging with the identified non-state actors as a way of restoring peace and order in the state. But Soludo, who appeared to have come with a can of mud to sling at Uba, refused to back down. He argued that Uba only engages when he is running for elections. He queried his intervention in the security situation of the state during his term as a Senator.

“You were in the Senate for eight years and not one word about IPOB and the agitations in the South-east (was heard from you). You only engage when you want to run for an election,” he said.

Elaborating on insecurity, Soludo, again, accused Uba of entrenching a legacy of violence in the state, which he pointedly associated with the PDP. Turning his attention to Ozigbo, Soludo mocked his inability to quote the accurate statistics in his submission on the state of unemployment in Anambra.

Uba may not have the oratory prowess of Soludo but he was not easily cowered. Defending his name, he asked Soludo to show evidence that he was involved in the kidnapping since his name was not included in the White Paper that was rreleased after the kidnapping. Not done with Uba, Soludo again attacked him on his school certificate.

Security has been a challenging topic in the upcoming elections, following the unrelenting wave of violence the state in the past few days. But it is not peculiar to Anambra as other parts of the country have witnessed one form of violence or the other. Therefore, it may provide some form of comfort to those who have legitimate duties and voters to know that security agencies are prepared to ensure smooth conduct of the Anambra governorship contest.
While the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) is deploying 20, 000 officers and men to complement sister-security agencies in ensuring a free, fair and credible election in the state, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) disclosed that it will not be deploying electoral materials and personnel in 86 of the 5,720 polling units.

The insecurity challenge, many believe will lead to a low voter turnout. Coupled with the unabating heightened state of insecurity, many election monitors have concluded that it is almost impossible to guarantee a free and fair election.

Since the current democratic dispensation began in 1999, Anambra has not recorded up to 50 per cent voter turnout in governorship election, a point duly noted by Uba. The only time it managed to record such participation was in 2007 but the election was mired in rigging controversies. Reports showed that since 2007, the voter turnout in the state has been on a progress decline.

In the 2010 elections, only 302,000 voters out of the 1.84 million that registered came out to vote. In 2013, the governorship elections only recorded 24 per cent of the 1,770,127 registered voters.

In 2017, only 22 per cent of voters took part in the Anambra election. The number of registered voters at that election was 2,064,134.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) last month revealed that the number of eligible voters to participate in the November 6 election was 2,525,471. According to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the electoral umpire arrived at the figure after adding the 77,475 valid registrants at the end of the first quarter of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) to the state’s voters’ register which had 2,447,996 eligible voters used for the 2019 general election.

The South-eatsern state is estimated to have a population of 11,400,000. Therefore, the number of registered voters in the state therefore is just a trickle. The low voter registration can be traced to lack of voter information campaigns. According to Yiaga Africa, a group that monitors elections and canvasses for voter registration, only 14 out of the 21 local government areas in the state carried out voter information campaigns.

Again, another indicator of voter apathy could be linked to the fear of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The secessionist group is believed to wield more influence on the electorates than sitting governors in the South-east region. It’s influence went a notch higher following the arrest and detention of their leader Nnamdi Kanu. To protest his release, the group ordered a sit-at-home protest in the South-east region every Monday. Although they have denied claims that they asked the electorates to boycott the upcoming elections, many still feel their presence like a looming dark cloud that will rain down wrath if they go against their command for a one week sit-at-home from Friday, November 5-a clear attempt to sabotage the Anambra governorship election.

Thus, when the candidates were pointedly asked if they are for or against IPOB, none provided a definite answer. Uba whose utterances hardly showed intelligence, maintained his stance that he will rather engage with agitators like he did during the MASSOB reign of fear in the state. Soludo who haughtily looked down on his response did not provide any definite answer either. Like Uba, he skirted around the question, concluding that he will dialogue with the group. Ozigbo, on the other hand said that he supports the ideals of the group but condemns their extremities.

However, all the candidates agreed that providing job opportunities for the younger citizens is one way to tackle insecurity as well as engaging with the agitators.

On infrastructure and economy, the candidates again could not resist smearing themselves with dirt. Ozigbo called Soludo a theorist whose arduous work of painting his predecessor in a good image cannot be translated to execution.

Soludo also used the debate to clarify Uba’s claim that he was instrumental to his emergence as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. According to him, he met Uba through the former Minister of Education Oby Ezekwesili three months after he was appointed the Economic Adviser. He further said that the first time he had a conversation with him was when he was already governor of the apex bank and helped him to run a political campaign. Uba countered his allegations, claiming that Soludo came to his house to thank him in the company of five traditional rulers.

While Soludo and Uba bickered back and forth about who did this or not, Ozigbo tried to direct the narrative by projecting PDP as the right party to win the November 6 election. He did not deny that his contenders were a product of the party. He emphasized mainly the emergence of a new PDP that will run a performance-driven and transparent governance. Another strategy employed by the former banker was to sell to the audience his youthful appeal. Most of his submissions suggested that the party was selling fresh blood to the state that will take it to a higher level.

Soludo, drawing on his educational and work experience exuded so much confidence in his speech but instead of being admired, it came across as ego. He was quick to dismiss Uba’s submission on the economy through tax incentives. He again challenged the ARISE News team’s accuracy on unemployment in the educational sector but was humbled when they clarified the source of the statistics.

Ozigbo must have sensed the reeking odour of Soludo’s confidence and leveraged that to sell himself. While delivering his closing remarks, the PDP candidate said that the state needs a humble person that will provide good governance. Uba on the hand said he will leverage his experience while Soludo declared that he is offering his life to Anambra people and does not need their money for his political ambition.

The three candidates who are from Aguata local government area in Anambra are the reckoning forces in the upcoming elections out of the 18 political parties.
Justification for the choice of speakers at the debate may be anchored on the eminence of their political parties and not necessarily their individual popularity: APGA is the ruling political in Anambra and has won the governorship contest back-to-back for 16 years. APC holds the reins of power of the Federal Government, that is very eager to have its flag flying in another South-east state along with with Imo and Ebonyi states. Its dream may just come true as Uba has used his enigma to win over serving Anambra lawmakers in state and federal legislature: including the Deputy Governor of the state. As the main opposition party in the country and one that once ruled in Anambra, the PDP has put up a brave campaign to return to power in the state.
However, the problems that characterised the governorship candidate selection process of these three leading parties produced many bitter losers, who continued their quest to become governor of Anambra State on the platform of lesser known political parties. In this category, Dr. Godwin Maduka of Accord and Dr. Obiora Okonkwo of Zenith Labour Party have shown great promise and increasing popularity capable of producing a surprise in the election.