In a post mortem of Anambra’s recent poll, David-Chyddy Eleke looks at how the governorship election went, the actions of the winner, reactions of the losers and how Anambra people are taking it entirely.
Anambra State is one of the states that operates an off cycle election in Nigeria. These developments are mainly because of election victories nullified by courts, leading to a fresh conduct. Anambra was the first to pull these through in 2006, leading to the first off cycle election in 2010, and since then, other states have followed. They include Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Kogi, Ondo, Osun and Imo States.
It was not surprising that the Anambra election drew attention nationwide. First was that it was one of the off cycle elections, but most important reason was that it came at a time that the nation had just been given a new chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, after what was loudly adjudged an abysmal outing of the commission under his predecessor, Prof Yakub Mahmoud in 2023, and so everyone was eager to see the performance of the new INEC boss.
Anambra gubernatorial election has however come and gone, but certain indices marked the performance of Amupitan in the election. They included the performance of the Biometric Voters Accreditation System also known as BVAS, the efficiency in uploading of elections results on the INEC Results Viewing portal known as IREV, security deployment, arrival of electoral personnel and materials to polling units and conduct of electoral officials.
Arrival of officials
The prompt arrival of officials of INEC in the Anambra election has been adjudged both by independent monitors, foreign and domestic observers as commendable. As early as 8am, officials had arrived most of the polling units, setting up their stands and commencing accreditation and voting at 8:30am. This is at variance with other elections in the past, where voters troop out and wait endlessly for officials to arrive.
BVAS and IREV
Except for isolated cases like some polling units in Anambra West Local Government Area, the Biometric Voters Accreditation System machine otherwise known as BVAS functioned effectively around the state. In most cases monitored by THISDAY correspondent, accreditation took less than one minute to authenticate a voter.
In the case of INEC Result Viewing portal, also known as IREV, several monitors attested to the swift uploading of results on the portal for the public to access. Infact, Governor Chukwuma Soludo told journalists during his acceptance speech as winner of the election that he is particularly happy about the swift uploading of results on the portal. Soludo said over 90 percent of the results were uploaded on the portal even before 4pm. He also commended the general conduct of the election, including the professional conduct of security operatives deployed for the election.
Soludo’s Hardwork Paid Off
To the winner of the election, Governor Soludo, he was always sure that he would emerge winner, but was particular about the margin. Soludo always insisted that: “I know we have opposition in this election, but we do not have opponents. I can’t see any,” he always concluded.
But beyond this, Soludo prepared for the election without leaving any stone unturned. Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Anambra ICT Agency, Mr Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata told THISDAY of the preparations made technologically by the agency to ensure there were no leakages.
He said: “Anambra runs with the mantra, ‘everything technology and technology everywhere’, and that mantra is what guides Mr Governor. So we as an ICT Agency knows this, and we also know that election is a very complex thing, so we decided to look for a way that technology can make things better, and the idea was how to use this technology to manage the process, such that Mr Governor and our party people can be aware of what is happening in all the 5,720 polling units in the state.
“We also needed a way to ensure that incident reports, results and any other general information was easily captured. That way we had to come up with a strategy where we built a two way system command and control center, what you may call a situation room, one in Isuofia the governor’s hometown and one in Awka, the government house here and in that way, we were able to ensure that by 4pm in the evening, we were able to get almost all the results. We were sure the governor would win, but we needed to build a system that could help us protect Mr Governor’s votes and also ensure that the margin is wide.”
He took THISDAY on a journey of the contributions of the agency in the election victory. “Before the election, we had also conducted a survey, using phone calls to Anambra people, with a set of seven questions, asking where they will vote and why they will be voting for such persons. Our research already had a ready result about the voting pattern, and believe me, some of the results we got tallied to an extent with the eventual outcome. That survey gave us an insight into the voting pattern and what to expect in the election. We knew we would win the election, but what we were trying to do was to see a way to guide against voter apathy. Beyond that, we already had all sorts of metrics that showed that the governor would win.
“Data is the new gold, and whether it is at the state or federal level, we need data to ensure informed decisions, so for this election, it was important to have data on this election and see how to have a dashboard that inculcates data for previous elections, so that we can understand the voting pattern of Ndi Anambra and understand what the issues of the average Anambra person is. We deployed the Geeks and Founders Alliance for Soludo (GEFAS); a mobile tech hub for the election, which went round distributing free WiFi. GEFAS is a support group for the governor, mainly consisting of techies (technologically advanced persons), and we used our knowledge of technology to see how we can make the best out of the election.
“Within six months period, we had given out 20 terabytes of free data across the state. What we did was that we prioritized data, and wherever they is a public event and people are gathered, we provided free data for people to have access to our Wi-Fi. Mr Governor believes that broadband is a right.
It is not supposed to be a favour of a luxury anymore, especially in this era of AI and advanced technology. People have to have access to high speed broadband, and if you move around the state, you will see more fibre optics cable being built, just to ensure that the capacity of the state keeps growing as the digital awareness of the state is growing.
“Before the election, we presented over 160 page data report to the governor, looking at the sentiments of voting in all the local government as our research found, and over 200,000 Anambra people from across all the 21 local government areas were called independently to measure their voting pattern, as part of the strategy to find out voting pattern.”
Acceptance and rejection
Since after the election, there have been speeches of acceptances and rejection, with the latter being in the minority. Among those who have rejected the outcome are; candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu; Labour Party candidate, Dr George Moghalu and that of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr John Nwosu. While Nwosu’s rejection of the result was as a result of complaints of glaring vote buying, Moghalu insisted his party’s logo was not on the ballot paper, Ukachukwu complained of violence and targeted attacks on his supporters, running mate and other agents. He insisted that he would wait and consult with his party before taking the next steps.
As everyone awaits the next steps of the aggrieved candidates, Governor Soludo has been savouring numerous congratulatory messages. President Bola Tinubu in his congratulatory message stated that Soludo’s victory is a sign of endorsement by the people of Anambra. He recalled visiting the state in May this year, and inaugurating several groundbreaking projects, which he described as the signature of Soludo, a man he referred to as a deep thinker.
Also, the running mate to the APC candidate, Senator Uche Ekwunife has congratulated Governor Soludo. She said: “Though the election outcome may not have been what we desired, I am profoundly proud of the effort that Prince Dr. Nicholas Ukachukwu and I did put into this race. I am humbled by the outpouring of love and support we received that has written a victory of faith, unity, and hope, a victory that no ballot can erase. As we move forward, I urge everyone to support every effort directed towards the peace, progress and unity of our beloved Anambra State. The interest of our state must always come first. I extend my warm congratulations to Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, on his victory and re-election for a second term. I sincerely wish him success in leading Anambra to greater heights. When Anambra succeeds, we all succeed. I therefore encourage all stakeholders to join hands to build a stronger, more prosperous state,” she said.
Also, numerous chairmen of local government areas have praised the victory of Soludo. One of them, Chairman of Orumba South LGA said: “Soludo’s victory is a well deserved triumph and a clear reflection of the people’s confidence in his visionary leadership, proven integrity and unwavering commitment to good governance. We in Orumba South are confident that your renewed mandate will consolidate on the gains already made and usher in greater prosperity, unity, and inclusive growth across Anambra State.”
