Anambra Tale of Mixed Grill

The National Assembly and Presidential elections may have come and gone with all the high and low points that had trailed the exercise.

Down here in Anambra State the turn of events presented issues that actually proved book makers wrong when the results were made public.

Aside from Presidential elections which the State voted massively for the people’s Democratic party(PDP) the Senate and federal House of Representatives elections were expected by political watchers to have gone in favour of the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA).

However the PDP which was reported to have an alliance with APGA, appears not to have respected that political marriage, when it insisted that Anambra electorates should vote for it in all the three elections.

But APGA had adopted President Goodluck Jonathan the PDP candidate and urged the electorates to vote for APGA in the National Assembly elections.

Reports ironically showed that the PDP swept the three elections in a manner that have left APGA lamenting betrayal of confidence both on the side of the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The PDP won the senatorial seats in Anambra producing, Princess Stella Odua for Anambra North, Hon. Uche Ekwunife for Central and returning Sen Andy Uba for South.

It also won nine out of the eleven federal House of Representatives seats, while APGA won that of Oyi/Ayamelum federal constituency through Barr Gabriel Onyewife and Anambra East west Constituency.

But APGA have already complained over what it called grave irregularities and manipulations done by the PDP who allegedly connived with INEC in perpetrating the electoral fraud.

According Gov Willie Obiano who spoke through his Commission for information Mr Tony Onyima, the APGA Board of Trustees Chairman said that
“It is disturbing in the sense that even though the abusive act of thuggery was perpetrated in the current election, it re-awakened in the consciousness of Ndi Anambra, a sad feeling of the return of impunity for which Anambra earned bad name in Nigeria years ago. Beyond the election, the act of brigandage throws up a worrisome concern for governance, that the forces that had insidiously given refuge to all kinds of perverse conducts in Anambra State, namely armed robbery, kidnapping and excesses in high places, are rearing their ugly heads again.

“That anti-democracy elements, who are also notable figures of the PDP were directly involved in manipulating the electoral process in key areas of the state, kidnapping INEC officials, hijacking the results from polling stations and re-writing the actual figures in favour of PDP candidates. A good case in point is the incident in Ihiala Local Government where an attempt to stop some PDP elements from altering the results of the voting exercise led to the death of two Nigerians – a police man and an innocent citizen. What is instructive in this incident is that citizen Ifeanyi Ubah, the Chairman of TAN, accompanied by Mr.Olisa Metuh, PDP National Publicity Secretary, were allegedly physically present at the scene of the incident.

“That a similar scenario played out in Idemili North Local Government Area where an invading mob led by a Federal Minister brazenly thwarted the will of the people by altering the results of the votes cast in the entire council area, in favour of his junior brother, the PDP candidate, against what were recorded in the various polling booths.

“That on the whole, the march 28,2015 National Elections in Anambra State were massively manipulated by agents of the PDP across the State who brazenly overwhelmed INEC officials, electoral agents and presumably independent observers to achieve a dubious and temporary victory in Anambra State.

“That the results of the Senatorial Elections as announced by the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra State do not by any stretch of the imagination reflect the expressed will of Ndi Anambra and therefore stand out as a monumental electoral injustice on our people.

“That as a corollary to these observations, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) hereby rejects in its entirety, the results of the Senatorial Elections in Anambra State as they are in total violation of the sovereign will of Ndi Anambra and stand out as a travesty to our people’s clamour for social justice and equitable representation in national politics.

“We therefore call on the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra State to urgently look into our complaints with a view to ensuring immediate redress that will restore the faith of Ndi Anambra in the democratic process as well as the inevitable triumph of the supremacy of the will of the people in the nation’s democratic culture.

We want to thank Ndi Anambra who endured long hours waiting in the hot sun to cast their votes for APGA and all our candidates seeking to represent us at the National Assembly. We want to assure you that this set back is only temporary because justice will always prevail” the Governor added.

But the Elections operations Committee Chairman for the PDP Prince Kenneth Emeakayi dismissed the claims of Obiano insisting that APGA must learn to comport itself and accept defeat.

Emeakayi said “ that All progressives Grand Alliance should learn how to comport themselves and to accept defeat in the face of total rejection of the party APGA by Ndi Anambra as witnessed during the March 28, 2015 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

“ That All Progressives Grand Alliance should realized that Ndi Anambra have never supported APGA as a political party, rather their support has always being to Governor Peterr Obi, Hon Uche Ekwunife, and others who hitherto were in APGA but now members of Peoples Democratic Party in Anambra State.

“That we rejected in its entirety the purported results of the election in Anambra East/Anambra West and Ayamelum/Oyi Federal Constituencies and state that we are still studying the report about what actually happened during the March 28, 2015 Presidential and National Assembly elections in the said constituencies, and shall make our position known after consultations with the National Leadership of our great party the PDP.

“Again, it has come to our information that the APGA Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Willie Obiano, in collaboration with one Chief Chris Uba, and the othet agents of APGA, have been going round the houses of youth Corps members who were presiding Officers during the Saturday March 28, 2015 elections, and also ransacking Independent National Electoral Commission’s offices at Nnewi North, Nnewi South, Aguata, Ihiala Local Government Areas, confiscating electoral materials, and we also wish to state that our members and supporters are assured of their safety and advised to remain calm and go about their normal business even in the face of unwarranted provocation by APGA and APC as the matter is already receiving attention at the appropriate quarters.

“No amount of harassment and intimidation can deter us from winning the April 11, 2015 State Assembly election in Anambra State. He added.

While the duo of PDP and APGA are neck deep in allegations and counter allegations, the Senator Representing Anambra Central District Dr Chris Ngige of the (APC) who lost to Ekwunife of the PDP is said to have accepted the outcome of the exercise adding that the victory of Gen Muhammadu as the next president of Nigeria is an indication that the country’s democracy is growing.

Ngige noted that Nigerians have been enriched and exposed to what democracy is all about adding that in subsequent elections the country and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would improve on the records of 2015 general election.

Be that as it may, the nature of protests from APGA would certainly present pletoria of litigation when the Anambra State Election Petitions Tribunal comes on stream.