Anambra Election: CDD predicts voter apathy, says Soludo, Ozigbo candidates to beat
The Center for Democracy and Development (CDD), Abuja, says the governorship election in Anambra State will witness low turnout of voters.
In a statement on Monday November 1, CDD said the sit- at- home order and the heavy deployment of security operatives in Anambra would depress voter turnout on Saturday, November 6.
Despite these factors, the advocacy group said the election was likely to hold.
“For one, since suspending the election due to insecurity will represent a significant blot on the federal government’s security credentials, the government is likely to substantially ramp up the presence of security agents in the state to ensure that the election holds.”
The CDD profiled the leading candidates, looking at their strength and weaknesses.
Charles Chukwuma Soludo, the candidate of APGA, is backed by incumbent Governor Willie Obiano.
“The power of incumbency appears to weigh in favour of APGA, with the party having produced an unbroken stretch of Anambra state governors since 2006.
“Former Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, APGA’s candidate, Chukwuma Soludo, will likely appeal to the segment of the electorate for whom technocratic credentials are valued,” CDD said.
On PDP, it said, “In addition to its historic dominance, the PDP still boasts of a measure of control in Anambra state politics given that Anambra’s two Senators (representing Anambra North and South) are both members of the party. In addition, it maintains 6 of Anambra’s seats in the House of Representatives and 6 out of 30 State House of Assembly seats.”
The APC was described thus, “APC appears the most disadvantaged in incumbency terms, boasting no Anambra representatives in either the State Assembly or either of the two houses of federal parliament. Given its association with the Buhari administration, which has historically been deeply unpopular in the South-east, the APC will have a steep hill to climb to win popular support ahead of the election.”
On INEC preparedness, the group said, “INEC’s wider record of preparations suggests that the commission is likely positioned to carry out an at least moderately credible poll. The governorship election in Nigeria’s South-eastern state of Anambra has been in the eyes of the news due to the threat of the Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB and the high degree of controversy that always comes with gubernatorial politics in Anambra.”
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) is a non-governmental organisation working on democratic governance, human rights, criminal justice reform and anti-corruption in Nigeria.
