ANAMBRA “BUY” ELECTIONS: Is PROF CHUKWUMA SOLUDO really Different? – By Kingsley Ubani

In a post shared on Facebook by Kingsley Ubani, it reads below :

Saturday’s By-election may have come and gone but the process and outcome have raised questions that I believe should not be ignored. Some of us have dedicated ourselves to asking questions that others may find difficult to ask. The election held in Anambra South Senatorial District and Onitsha North I State Constituency had been adjudged by many observers and witnesses as one of the most monitized elections in Anambra state since inception of democracy. Votes were bought for as high as N20,000, with accusing fingers pointing at Soludo-led party, the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

The election was the second election held under the governor of Anambra state, Prof Chukwuma Soludo CFR, since he took over office in March 2022. The first one was the Local Government elections conducted by the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission, constituted by the governor. Recall that I wrote an open letter to the Governor after the election was marred with irregularities where in over 90% of the polling units, voting was not held but results were announced, however, the next day the governor took to the media to hail the conduct of the elections which his party, APGA purportedly won across the 21 local government areas of the state.

I would not have stressed writing this article if the Governor of Anambra state was not Professor Soludo. Soludo’s pedigree before coming into office and his unfortunate interference in elections, do not match. It has called to question his attitude with respect to upholding the democratic ideals that he swore to protect. If billions of tax payers money, raised from taxies and levies on poor and hardworking Anambrarians could be easily deployed for the purpose of buying votes as sadly witnessed on Saturday, what then makes the governor different from his counterparts in the political system?

In January 2022, Prof Soludo as a keynote speaker in the First Graduation Day of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance Pioneer Class of 2021, gave a speech entitled: The Purpose and Price of Disruptive Change. In the speech of over 2,800 words, the governor stated that “Politics has become big business. Appointment or election into public office is seen largely as an opportunity to “eat” rather than a call to selfless service.” He went further to say that “the classic feature of the political environment is that corruption has become part of the “culture”, with little incentive for honesty”. According to Soludo, honesty is scorned as wickedness, foolishness or mere pretense, and those who DARE TO BE DIFFERENT have a steep price to pay.

In spite of his beautiful speeches, the governor’s actions on Saturday and during the last local government elections, do not suggest that he is different from the class of politicians he addressed in the highlighted speech. He has not been able to resist the temptation of deeping hands into our collective patrimony to finance electoral victories for his preferred candidates.

What is contradicting, is that the Governor’s acceptance speech when he was elected, was entitled “A Divine Journey Whose Time Has Come”. But for observers like us, there was nothing divine in Soludo-led APGA deploying tax payers money to buy votes in elections as was seen across polling units in Saturday’s Bye-election neither was it also divine that Mr Governor oversaw and endorsed a charade in the name local government elections, last year.

Governor Soludo may have his political strengths, but he has proven to not be different. The system that the Professor came to change, has sadly changed the Professor.

Source : https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19QcNJj4pM/

Kingsley Ubani is a Native of Enugwu-Ukwu in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State.