The last time I checked, the most talked-about Anambra Gubernatorial election in Nigeria had graciously come and gone, to the glory of God. In other words, the concerned electorate are at the moment not unaware of their next Governor.
Life generally is conspicuously characterized by tremendous intrigues and intricacies. This is the reason some persons who truly comprehend the features of nature don’t seemingly hold anything firmly.
They do so, believing that whatever one beholds can depart at anytime, and in most cases, it happens unannounced. This set of individuals, that’s invariably found anywhere across the globe, is often referred to as a group of realists.
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Realism is simply the ability to face any ongoing circumstance or trending events squarely as they appear without making any effort to twist their real outlook or value. This school of thought enables mankind to be rational and real at all times.
In elections or electioneering era for instance, several intrigues are usually observed by the onlookers. Taking Nigeria as a case study, each time any election approaches, the concerned aspirants or political parties are – rather than dwelling on issue-based campaigns – relentlessly involved in exposing their dirty lilies in the public domain.
An aspirant or candidate who is expected to inform the people what he/she intends to do towards ushering in the anticipated good governance when he emerges victoriously, would end up telling the electorate why they shouldn’t vote for his/her rival(s), thereby contradicting the scenario.
In a situation whereby the ruling party is contesting for a certain position or reelection and its closest rival happens to have tasted the leadership seat in the past, the two parties – both the ruling and opposition – would be mainly involved in castigating each other as they go about their day-to-day campaigns towards gaining the people’s votes.
They unabatedly concentrate on this wayward style of campaign, and they do so vigorously and doggedly, forgetting what the voters really need to hear from them is their plan on how to position or reposition the country or state, as the case may be, positively if they became elected at the polls.
This character assassination as mentioned above, popularly known as “blame game”, had in recent times eaten deep into the bloodstream of the Nigeria’s political system and its likes. It has hitherto continued endlessly as was witnessed in the just concluded Anambra State governorship election.
In the aforementioned polls, such a game was keenly, though ‘shamefully’, played by three key political parties namely, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
At the moment, it’s obvious that after the rigorous blame games that heralded the said election, a victor consequently emerged as was publicly declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer in the person of Prof. Florence Obi on Tuesday, 9th November 2021 after the supplementary poll that took place in Ihiala LGA, the area where votes weren’t cast on the election day being Saturday, 6th November 2021.
Prof. Obi, having painstakingly studied the outcomes of the elections as were separately conducted in the existing 21 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the State and consequently tendered by the various Returning Officers from the LGAs, graciously announced the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo of the APGA, which is the current ruling party in the province, as the winner of the keenly contested poll.
It’s noteworthy that the Certificates of Return were presented to the duo of victors Prof. Soludo and his deputy, Dr. Onyeka Ibezim on 12th November 2021, as requested by the extant law.
Millions of people the world over are currently celebrating with the victors, whilst some others are reportedly aggrieved with the pronounced outcome of the polls. Whatever the case might be, the bone of contention remains that a winner had finally emerged from the blame game after the suspense and intrigues that transpired.
At this juncture, I want to candidly appreciate Nigerians, particularly the people of Anambra, for the maturity and patience displayed before, during and after the polls. Election as an exercise is a process, hence entails various sections. The first part of it is for the electorate to collectively cast their votes; the Anambranians participated in this phase with extreme maturity despite the odds.
The second phase entails awaiting the pronouncement of the outcome of the election. This section equally requires to be participated with a patriotic mindset imbued with patience. Anambranians in their numbers also did as expected while in this very phase.
The third phase involves declaration of any of the contenders as the victor of the exercise or competition. It’s noteworthy that the victor is constitutionally the candidate who garnered the maximum number of votes against his/her co-contestants as well as acquired the required spread across the available States or LGAs in the country or State, respectively, as might be the case..
I equally commend the citizens for accepting this section in good faith as we appeal to the defeated candidate(s) who wish(es) to query the outcome or the declaration to use the apt channel, which remains the legal means.
The PDP has already announced its displeasure over the outcome of the election, and may be approaching the Election Tribunal soonest. We therefore enjoin them to remain calm and mature till the entire proceeding is over.
Similar appeal goes to the candidates or political parties who were reportedly defeated. They must endeavour to use the right and lawful channel in showcasing their respective grievances.
So, as I congratulate the Governor-Elect, Prof. Soludo and his Deputy, Dr. Ibezim alongside their entire team, for emerging as the next democratically-elected Governor of Anambra, I equally congratulate the teeming Anambranians for the fantastic and remarkable role they variously played towards ensuring that peace and harmony were maintained across the shores of the State.
Above all, as I appreciate the INEC for eventually concluding this labour and cost intensive task, I enjoin the commission to look inwards to ensure that whatever lapse(s) experienced in the last polls isn’t/aren’t witnessed in the impending ones.
Hence, the electoral umpire must tactically go back to the drawing board. The various technical hitches recorded at different localities on the day of the election must be considered, aptly x-rayed and addressed for the sake of future elections.
All in all, as Anambranians collectively enjoy this relative peace, I urge them to continually remind ourselves that there’s no other State, aside Anambra, they can proudly and boldly call their own.