Analysis: Why Obiano was re-elected

.Demystifies Nwoye’s federal might, Obaze’s godfather

For Governor Willie Obiano, the victory in last Saturday’s election was a hard one given the enormity of opposition to his re-election campaign.

The campaign against Obiano’s re-election was so crunchy that both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) flatly dismissed claims of achievements by Obiano in the area of security, agriculture and agro-based industries, trade and commerce, prompt payment of salaries of workers and pensioners and others.

They dismissed these claims as mere propaganda, which will not work for Obiano in the election. But because ambition blinds, the opposition plunged themselves into the election with full assurance that they will carry the day. Any attempt to point out some of the factors that could help Obiano win was always met with mere wave of hand and sometimes with violent resistance.

But they were eventually proved wrong because at the conclusion of voting and subsequent announcement of results on Sunday, it was clear that the opposition were wrong. APGA, Obiano’s party scored 234, 071 votes to emerge victorious during Saturday’s election.

Obiano’s rival, Tony Nwoye came distant second with 98, 752 votes, while Oseloka Obaze of PDP got 70, 293 votes.

With this landslide victory, it is obvious that the opposition underrated the capacity of Obiano to crush them. Hence Tony Nwoye, the APC candidate’s federal might and Oseloka Obaze’s political godfather, former Governor Peter Obi, were demystified.

The opposition also miscalculated as the APGA candidate won in a landslide victory in all the 21 local governments areas of the state as predicted by Obiano himself when journalists interviewed him shortly after casting his vote at his ward in Eri Primary School, Aguleri, Anambra LGA last Saturday.

But for unbiased and keen observers of Anambra politics especially in this election, it was glaringly clear as the election approached that the issues and factors that will determine the winner of this election favoured Obiano.

The campaign slogan of one of the candidates in this election, Osita Chidoka of UPP was that this election would be a referendum on the future of Ndigbo. And truly this was a referendum on Anambra, the future of Anambra politics as has been demonstrated by the average Anambra voter last Saturday.

By voting for Obiano, they have sent clear, eloquent and unambiguous message to politicians in the state that they (the voters) are not bunch of “fools” who cannot think nor remember yesterday. So, the people of the state in voting for Obiano has demonstrated that they knew what they want. Obiano therefore won this election because of the belief by Anambra people that APGA actually is their own as one of their campaign organ would say.

But the APC candidate and his sponsors have a lot of baggage behind them that worked for Obiano in the election.
On the part of PDP, the Anambra people could not understand why Peter Obi who four years ago presented Obiano to them as the one who would take them to political Eldoraldo and suddenly turned back to tell them that Obiano is not the Messiah again but Oseloka Obaze.

Obiano’s opponents also underrated the prompt payment of salaries to the workers in the state. Considering that most states in the country especially some of the APC states do not pay their workers’ salaries and arrears for several months, the Anambra workers might have decided to throw their weight behind Obiano for continuity in the payment of their salaries.

In fact, continuity was Obiano’s campaign slogan. It is in the same vein that the traders of Anambra State might have voted Obiano in the last election as promised in their endorsement of Obiano days leading to the election, so that the security of lives and property, which has been the hallmark of his administration will continue.

For the traders in the state, they do not want to risk the return of high profile and rampant kidnappings as well as violent armed robbery attacks that were the order of the day during previous administrations.

Obiano also won the election with the massive support of the people of the Anambra South Senatorial zone, who are eager to step into the reins of power in 2021 in line with the zoning arrangement started by Obi with Obiano.

Among all the candidates who contested in the race, only Obiano would go for the statutory four years, while others will go for four years if any of them had won.

Another strategic factor that gave Obiano the victory was the overwhelming support or endorsement by the stakeholders in the state including traditional institution, the clergy, political and business class.

But one of the incumbency factors that also helped Obiano demystify his opponents was his capacity to deliver the dividends of democracy to Ndi Anambra.

Alphonsus Nweze, Awka