Okey Maduforo — Today is the D-Day for the Anambra State governorship election. As Nigerians await what could be described as a litmus test for the country's democratic process, stakeholders in the state have shown greater interest on the conduct and outcome of the exercise. Immediate past President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide and a First Republic politician, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, spoke with Correspondent, Okey Maduforo, on what is expected from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the voters and the politicians themselves.

Sir, we would like to know your take on elections that have been conducted in the past in Anambra State.

You can tell the story better than me as a journalist. The 1999 general election, which had its forms of irregularities saw the emergence of President Olusegun Obasanjo as the winner. The protest was not much but to an extent showed some form of what you would call fairness. However, we all know that there were irregularities in certain areas and the West also showed that they never wanted their brother. But when you look at the 2003 elections a similar thing equally happened and several round pegs where put in square holes and a lot of petitions were in tribunals. The commission came short of fooling the people of Anambra State and the judgments, as it were, went further to prove that things were not done properly. The 2007 general elections showed daylight robbery. The entire Anambra people were disenchanted. Nobody voted.

Those that did were places where the cabal had interest and after the exercises result sheets got missing and at the end of the day a result was announced. The Independent National Electoral Commission was even clever by half when they wrongfully excluded the Action Congress (AC) candidate, Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige, Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) and a host of other candidates. Had it been that those petitions in the tribunal were dispensed with, it is obvious that Anambra would have had a repeat election just like in other states. So, it has been a display of brigandage by a set of buccaneers masquerading as politicians.

This year, Anambra State would be holding its own governorship election before other states in the federation and a lot of things have been said. A lot of innuendoes have been made about it but what are my fears are that if we do not get it right this time it would have a spill over effect on the 2011 general elections. It is not just for Anambra voters to decide but for all that have anything to do with the election to carry out their activities within the ambits of the law and in accordance with the Electoral Act. The voters should look at the candidates and their manifestoes as well as their antecedents before voting. The mistake they will make would certainly spell doom for Anambra State.

Talking about candidates and manifestoes, how do you rate them in line with their promises?

Anybody can sit down and engage the services of a speechwriter will produce a masterpiece. But that will not end at that. The candidates should also tell you in practical terms what they have done in the past either as governors or private citizens that have impacted on the people. They should have pedigree. I am not saying that they are not all good on their own. But it is imperative that we know them well. I know that there are some candidates who are just there for the sake of answering present and the rest also came and at the end of the election they will just go home. Some campaign promises may sound enthusiastic and attractive while others really have substance in them. However, it is left for the people to decide. I also want to add that Anambra people should look at politics that is attainable and that has direct and immense benefit to the people.

Recently, there have been stories of endorsements here and there. A group would say that they have endorsed this candidate or the other. Does that have any effect on the voting pattern?

Endorsements are like merchandise in politics. Some candidates even sponsor some of these so call endorsements to shower up their political profile. But the question is, what were the criteria for the endorsement and at what point did the people arrive at a conclusion that a certain candidate was endorsed? We have 25 governorship candidates and I wonder when and how the group was able to look at their manifestoes, set up a powerful committee to understudy them and then pick a candidate. What were the laid down procedures that they used? Though in a democratic society there is this freedom of association and freedom to vent your feelings and your views but it is undemocratic to force it down on others in the name of group. However, it is not binding on the electorate. A group of 50 people can announce that they have endorsed a certain candidate but on election day not up to 10 of them would vote for the candidate in question and that is the beauty of democracy. So, endorsements, I can say, create more of an untrue impression of what is real to the politicians but they choose to celebrate it on the pages of the newspapers.

Religion seems to have eaten deep into the fabrics of Anambra politics. Do you think it has any role to play in this election?

When people begin to find a shortcut to ascend political throne it speaks poorly of our democracy and the polity. Candidates run elections on the platform of political parties not on the platform of churches or religious denomination. I tell you that we will be missing the point if Anambra would have to vote along religious lines. The governor is not governor of one denomination but that of the entire Anambra people. I also see this as being defeat for a candidate to rely on his or her religious group to win an election. I learnt that two or more candidates belong to one group and one wonders how they can manage the situation. Okay! Let us say the group has chosen a candidate, would everyone be in the same polling unit to watch every member vote for that candidate? The good governance of Anambra State should not be compromised by the petty politics of religion. This will not lead us anywhere because first of all, we are all Ndigbo brothers and sisters and we should strive to better Igbo land and not to talk about sectional religious alliances.

Earlier on you had insisted that things should be done correctly and that brings us to the umpire INEC, do you think that the commission is set for this election?

There has never been a perfect situation in the real sense of the word but INEC has a calendar. If the body follows the calendar as it should be it can achieve 70 to 80 per cent readiness. But you should also know that INEC is not truly independent. For INEC to be independent it has to fund itself and should not be controlled by government. Even the appointment of top officers of the body should not be a government affair. INEC preparations have not been as much as expected. Take for instance the voter registration and verification exercise. In most places the workers complained of inadequate materials so would tell you that they do not have power generating sets to power the machines most people could not see the officials that conducted the exercise and some did not visit the polling units at all.

I still remember what was published in the papers about names of voters with pictures of non-Anambra people or dead people attached to them. We have had stories, though not yet confirmed by the authorities concerned about a container of electoral materials that they said police intercepted and the stories about buying voters' cards and converting National Identity cards to voters' cards. The question is, where did they get those electoral materials? Who gave them and what is INEC doing to show that it has no hand in the alleged incidents? So, INEC's readiness is a function of what they feel that they have done and it is on the election day that we shall find out clearly if INEC actually prepared well for the election. Materials have to arrive at every polling unit on time and the workers should be alive to their responsibilities.

Those areas, which they call difficult terrain, should be worked upon. Good enough that the rains are not here yet, no one would tell us that due to the climate, they could not get to Anaku or Nzam or Ogbaru riverine areas. The commission should also provide adequate logistics for the staff and the monitoring team for this election and ensure that those at the polling units are those that have been engaged to work for it and not thugs or street urchins that are out to make trouble.

Recently, the Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, visited Anambra State and read the riot act to officers and men in the command. Do you think this is enough?

When people accuse the police of having a hand in electoral fraud I wonder why. A policeman who fires a gunshot at a polling unit to scare people away must have been paid by a politician to do that. So the problem is not just with the police, but on the candidates themselves, who would use the police for their selfish ends. If the police choose to resist irregularities would the politicians let go? In any case, the Inspector General of Police should ensure that the right thing is done. You can deploy policemen to Anambra, but you must monitor what they do and also ensure that they are not used by politicians to derail the electoral process.

A school of thought is of the view that election malpractices should be made a criminal offence and punishable by the law.

That sounds interesting but I have my fears if this can be done. The electoral reform has remained an issue in contention and the National Assembly appears to be delaying the process or so. How can it be made punishable when those that would make it so are the beneficiaries of the criminality? Until we learn to tell ourselves the truth good governance, rule of law, justice, equity and good conscience would continue to elude us as a people. But the Anambra governorship election could be a good beginning in that direction.