The Saturday, November 8 governorship election in Anambra State has turned into a no-contest because the opposition is in total disarray. Like dazed boxers, the opposition candidates have apparently thrown in the towel in surrender. It is only the incumbent governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, who is campaigning in all parts of the state, and getting all-round endorsements. His ill-assorted challengers are nowhere to be found.
Soludo’s opponents can be likened to UFOs, that is, Unidentified Flying Objects who are neither here nor there. They can’t count on any supporters whatsoever to power their campaigns. There is internal dissension in each of the opposition parties because they had organized fractious primaries as opposed to the seamless consensus agreement of the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) that returned Governor Soludo without any dissent from any angle.
The approval rating of Governor Soludo is sky-high while the opposition is next to sub-zero in the approval, or lack thereof, of Ndi Anambra. Soludo’s incomparable achievements in his first tenure have put him way ahead of the crippled opposition.
It has never happened in the history of Anambra elections seeing the opposition in such a sorry state. It is not even possible to rate any of them as the leading opposition candidate among the pack. The one that boasted of taking Anambra to the centre has been roundly snubbed by the Presidency and the leading lights of the party at the centre. The other opposition wannabe went to court to swear to an affidavit that he would serve for only one term – even as had never been seen campaigning to win the election anywhere! Another opposition prankster heaped two tipper loads of sand on a road that Governor Soludo had already awarded a contract for its construction!
These opposition underdogs ought to understand that ruling AnambraState must not be reduced to play-acting of the Onuku Odeku style! It is obviously too late in the day for them to get serious and busy.
It has to be admitted that Governor Soludo is a tough act to follow or match or challenge. The over-matched opposition candidates are like flyweights in the ring with a champion heavyweight at the height of his powers. The poor candidates are only gasping for breath, dying for oxygen while looking for the towel to throw in surrender.
Governor Soludo is to all intents and purposes the consensus candidate of all Ndi Anambra across the political party lines and divides. Remarkably, the former Governor of Anambra State, former Senator and former Minister, Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige, had in Abuja told Governor Soludo: “Odenigbo, carry go!”
The straight-talking no-nonsense Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, did not mince words when telling the opposition candidates seeking to take over the government in Anambra to wait till 2029, that is, after Soludo had completed his second term!
The fact that all communities are donating in support of the hardworking governor who they crowned as Oluatuegwu has completely overwhelmed the opposition. It is foolhardy doing battle with a “man who no dey fear work”! As Soludo works tirelessly, the opposition is caught napping in deep slumber.
The unpopularity of the Anambra opposition is writ large in the fact that the people have thus far stoutly refused to deploy their resources in support of their fledgling campaigns. Their talk of planning to rig the election flies in the face of reason because one must establish a presence first before hoping to rig an election! Even the hope of buying voters cannot fly because Anambra voters are too sophisticated to be bought by F9 failures and fake PhD wrecks.
Soludo stands tall as the one qualified candidate who basks in unsolicited and spontaneous support of the people of Anambra State. Pundits across board are predicting that Soludo will win about 90 percent of the votes on Saturday, November 8, as well as setting the record of winning 21/21 local government areas, 326/326 wards, 5720/5720 polling units.
The opposition candidates have only wobbly legs to stand on. That’s why they are struggling to throw in the towel. Maybe they need to save face by voting for Soludo as the consensus candidate.
A tear for all of them.
*Dr Udemobi is a civil rights activist based in Onitsha, Anambra State.*