Intersociety slams Anambra Governorship candidates

Anambra 2017: Time To Move From Voodooist Utterances To Issue And
Governance Based Campaigns
----Intersociety
(Intersociety, Onitsha Nigeria: 27th September 2017)-Anambra
Governorship Candidates must move away from their present voodooist
utterances and sloganeered irrelevancies that have occupied the
State’s political space and its gubernatorial discourse; and face the
State electorates with issue and governance based campaigns.
The Candidates must also understand or be  made to understand that
Anambra Gubernatorial contest is not a contest for the seat of
“Executive Chairman” or “Chief Executive Officer (CEO)” of “Anambra
State Nig. Ltd.”; or “Anambra State Public Liability Company (PLC)”.
It is further not a Seat for political charlatanism, favoritism,
nepotism, violence, exclusion, segregation, dichotomy and vendetta.
These gory attributes of the present central Government in Nigeria
must not be allowed by all lovers and defenders of democracy and civil
government to rear their ugly heads in Anambra State. Anambra State as
a super State with super people in Nigeria must be made to wear such
look at all times. Governance of the State must be left and entrusted
in the hands of the people of nobility and aristocracy.
The leadership of Int’l Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law
(Intersociety) has, therefore,  keenly watched the campaign modes and
slogans of the “first class” Governorship Candidates for November 18th
gubernatorial poll. We are disappointed, shocked and appalled by the
sad development and make bold to say the campaigns are substantially,
if not totally dominated by voodooist utterances and other
irrelevancies that have no direct or indirect bearing on collective
welfare and affairs of the People of the State.
These we expressly find to be motivated by “mercantilist mindsets of
some contestants” that still see the State seat of power and its
public treasury as a “public goat that is owned by nobody”. There are
those or malevolent political actors who equally see and treat the
State coffers as “ elephant meats that never finish”. These political
actors when allowed access to power; not only constitute over-bloated
cabinet tailored in nepotism and favoritism, but also steadily
misappropriate and misapply lean public resources; thereby starving
the State’s critical sectors of direly needed development, maintenance
and management funds and leave them in acute quandary.
We therefore call on the 2017 Anambra Governorship Candidates to
rewind and speak to the electorates of the State in the plain language
they will and ought to understand. This is no longer time for
recruitment of internet warriors to engage in fierce voodooist and
calumny campaigns; or procurement of costliest pages in the newspapers
and television/radio news bulletins; or running of image damaging
commentaries on sponsored public and private owned radio stations.


These hostile and malicious languages and signs are strange and
grandly unacceptable to our democratic and civil governance
traditions. Anambra Governorship Candidates must go back to the
drawing board and come back with popular and traditionalized signs and
languages tailored in conventional electioneering and civil government
leadership quests or government of the people by the people and for
the people.
The incumbent Governor who is seeking for a constitutional second term
must go beyond rhetoric without grounded and provable governance
facts. A saying still goes that “a chicken with broken leg (s) is
hardly sold at homestead market”. It is time for the incumbent to move
away from governance simulations to governance realities. Those who
will vote in the 18th November election are not those watching
television hyped news or reading sponsored newspaper pages in Abuja,
Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Aba, Enugu or Americas,
Europe and Asia. The voters are here, live and direct; and scattered
in all the 177 Communities and urban centers of the State.
Our critical questions to the incumbent Governor which are fundamental
determinants for his reelection bid are: how much direct foreign
investments have been attracted to Anambra State since first quarter
of 2014? Where are they located in the State, if any? What are they
producing? What is the total amount of tax from such foreign
investments (if any) paid into Anambra coffers so far? How many
citizens of Anambra State and their neighbors have been employed?
The $5million annual pumpkin leaves (Ugu) export conundrum also direly
needs the following clarifications: Kenya is the world largest
exporter of flowers and where they are packed waiting to be processed
for export usually occupy acres of land. In the case of $5m Ugu
export: where are the locations of “industrial Ugu farms” in Anambra
State? Are they private or State owned or PPP (if any)?  What
locations in the State are these industrial Ugu being assembled for
procession and export?  How are they being industrially exported; by
marine or aviation; and with or without relevant Federal agencies’
involvement or supervision? Does Anambra have airport or seaport to
export $5m per annum valued at $410,000 per month (N150M)? Have the
annual proceeds of the Ugu export valued at over N1.8B been reflected
in the State’s income budgets? These questions are also extended to
other parroted farm produce said to be industrially exported by the
Obiano Administration.
Other critical questions for the incumbent/contesting Governor are:
What is the state of Anambra’s foreign and local debts profile since
March 2014; decreasing or increasing geometrically? Anambra had
multibillion naira worth of moveable (liquid) or cash investments in
several quoted companies and expatriate others; are they still intact;
if yes, what are their total market values today; if no, how come and
where are they? How many kilometers of roads inherited from the
immediate past administration have been completed since 2014 and how
many have been started and completed since 2014?
How many kilometers of roads have specifically been awarded and
completed since 2014 in  strategic areas and communities in Onitsha
South and North, Idemmili North and South, Ogbaru, Oyi, Nnewi North
and South, Ihiala, Ekwusigo, Aguata, Anaocha, Orumba North and South,
Njikoka, Dunukofia and Awka North and South? Computers and giant power
generators were distributed to public and mission schools in the State
before 2014; are these still intact or diverted or stolen?
What is the state of failed portions of existing road network in those
areas and LGAs above mentioned? When was the last time school and
health facilities and equipments including cash, lab and library
materials and resources; buses, cash and physical structures were
donated or distributed to public and mission schools and hospitals in
the State? How much does the incumbent Governor collect as monthly
security votes and how is it spent?  How much has been collected by
the Governor in the past three-and-a half years or 42months as
security votes?  What is the incumbent Government’s cabinet size and
how much is the State’s total monthly wage bill? What does the
incumbent Governor spectacularly have for the People of Anambra State
warranting his second term bid?
To other candidates in the coming election particularly those of the
PDP and the APC; our critical questions are: What is the topography of
Anambra State including its boundaries and square kilometer
measurement? How many kilometers of Trunks A, B and C roads are in the
State? Between aviation, marine and road, which one is mostly used and
important to the People of Anambra State? When was the last time the
existing Anambra Road network was expanded or added with virgin
kilometers? How many kilometers of new roads will be asphalted and
completed every year if any of them wins? What are the Candidates’
policy directions (if any) in urban planning, waste and environmental
management (including reckless blockage of gutters and drainages),
health, education, water, maintenance and management of existing key
infrastructures such as roads, spaces, etc? How many State or public
cemeteries (if any) are in Onitsha, Ogbaru, Nnewi, Ekwulobia, Ihiala,
Oyi, Idemmili North, Dunukofia and Awka?
Are the Governorship Candidates ever aware of the availability of “the
Charter of Responsibilities for Public Office Holders”, contained in
the Chapter 11 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution? Specifically, are they
aware or have they read and studied Sections 13-21 of the Constitution
under the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State
Policy? What do they understand by “security and welfare of the
people” (s.14 (2) (b)? Is their idea of security still revolve around
the existing archaic and crude methods of securitization in Anambra
State partly introduced by the Peter Obi Administration (i.e.
demolition of buildings belonging to suspected violent criminals even
when investigation are yet to be completed or  outside court order or
confiscation)? Have they ever heard of UNDP’s conceptualized Human
Security and its Seven Dimensions or Peopling Security?
Signed:
For: Int’l Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law
Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chair
Mobile Line: +2348174090052
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.intersociety-ng.org

Chinwe Umeche, Esq.
Head, Democracy & Good Governance Program
Email: [email protected]