A good election

There are reasons for INEC to be euphoric - and the most obvious one being the simple fact that the election process went through without loss of limb or life. The prognosis for the election was actually dire. With a crowded field of more than twenty candidates - including about five major ones with huge chips on their shoulders - the election was always going to be a tricky operation.

There were three former governors in the race - Mr. Obi; Mr. Chris Ngige of the Action Congress and Andy Uba of the Labour Party; while the PDP candidate, Charles Soludo was a governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. They all felt they had a point to prove.

And Anambra State had a previous history of being home to over-excitable politicians and their followers who felt a couple of broken limbs were a normal part of the election process. Luckily, a massive influx of security officials into the state - 40,000 police officers and hundreds of other security agents - ensured that any brief sparks of violence were quickly squelched.

Most of the observers, including those representing civil society networks, rate the election as reasonably free and fair. Both the voting and collation of results were deemed to have been carried out within acceptable norms of openness and transparency.

But this does not mean INEC failed to exhibit some of its usual signs of incompetence. Election materials, for instance did not get to some polling stations until 2 pm, some five hours after elections were supposed to commence. Then there were fouled up voters’ registers. Tales of rows of registers bearing Yoruba names in predominantly Igbo communities were just an example of this.

Thousands of potential voters were turned back at polling booths because their names were missing from the register. The name of Mr. Ngige was not put back on the register until a few days to polling day while Mr. Obi’s name was the only one in the register out of his entire extended family.

Such foul ups served to disenfranchise a large number of citizens - and led to the accusations of fraud by some of the candidates who claimed that this denied them of crucial votes that would have made a difference to the final outcome of the election.

But there is no indication to show that this was deliberately done to favour one particular party. The fact that virtually all the parties complained about the late start of voting and missing names could only mean that this was an instance of bad planning and inefficiency rather than mischief making. Why, even the leadership of the PDP have had to come out and play the strange and unfamiliar role of criticising INEC for its handling of the election.

Suddenly, like a hall full of mirrors where no one knows who is on which side, INEC found itself (surprise, surprise) in the unusual role of an umpire which all the candidates are unhappy with. That means it must have done some things right, after all.

Comments from a majority of Nigerians, especially those who wrote on our website, showed they needed no further example of the fairness of the election than its outcome. For them the very fact that Mr. Obi, the candidate of a fringe party, could defeat the candidate of the mighty PDP, Mr. Soludo and a former candidate of the party, Mr. Uba was proof enough for many.

The Anambra election is already being held up as an example of how elections should be held in the country. There is some merit in that assertion - especially if the right lessons are learnt. The election was riven with bad planning that should be avoided. This INEC has had more than enough experience to have a better grasp of logistics of planning timeous delivery of election materials.

But we must be careful of confusing an unexpected outcome with the necessity of instituting a sound electoral process that guarantees free, fair and independently conducted elections by a body that is insulated from partisan or executive interference.

The political parties should also understand the importance of embracing internal democracy. Arguably one of the problems faced by the PDP in the run-up to the election - apart from its belief that it could steamroll any opposition - was the messy system through which it picked its candidate. Mr. Soludo had to face legal challenges to his candidacy all the way to the polls from fellow aspirants who felt he was imposed on the party.

The same probably goes for Mr. Uba, who was bumped out of the PDP because he challenged the party’s decision on his candidacy and adopted the Labour Party almost at the last minute. There will probably be legal challenges to Mr. Obi’s victory by some of his opponents. But that is a preferable route to the alternative of arson and violence. It should even serve to enrich the nation’s electoral jurisprudence and improve overall electoral conduct.

Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were quick to celebrate the successful conduct of last Saturday’s governorship elections in Anambra State that returned the incumbent governor, Peter Obi to power.