Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the usual hustle and bustle, blare of loud of sirens, retinue of campaign trains, road shows and rallies, which usually characterised electioneering campaigns seemed to have ebbed in Enugu. CHUKS NWEZE, in Enugu reports
In past elections, electioneering campaigns were organised in the markets, streets, roads and school premises with politicians and political parties moving about wooing the electorate for votes. But these days, there seems to be a shadow boxing because people hardly know that electioneering is in the air.
Observations reveal that instead of indulging in open campaigns, what the candidates do is to go from community to community, church to church, one traditional ruler or the other to seek endorsements.
For instance, the Christ Ascension Church in Enugu recently endorsed the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Barr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah.
At the headquarters of the Church at Independence Layout, Enugu, the Church prayed for Mbah to ascend the Lion Building, the Enugu State House, come 2023, with a proviso that he would look their way when he ascends the number seat.
The General Superintendent of the Church, Bishop Raph Nwoye, who was the former Deputy Governor to former governor, Sullivan Chime, and incidentally, one of those who aspired to be governor but stepped down for Mbah during the primary, prayed God to grant Mbah the victory.
The cleric promised that he and members of his congregation would vote massively for Mbah.
“As you are here today, we are solidly behind you. We’ll continue to pray for you. Sir, the Ascension Church is with you,” Nwoye assured.
Nwoye, said that indeed Mbah was a man that could lift Enugu state to the next level and asked his parishioners to stretch their hands to pray for him.
In response, Mbah, the governorship hopeful said that the Bible was a sign that he would win. “The Bible is a sign of victory,” he said.
The governorship candidate expressed delight that the Church endorsed him but said that he would not say anything about his programmes on how to ensure adequate security of lives and property of the people of the state until the appropriate time when he would unfold his programmes.
In return for the endorsement given to him, Mbah promised to do something for the Church if he eventually became the governor of Enugu state in the March governorship election and commended the leadership of the Church.
“We were looking for a leadership module for the state before the primaries and today, you have indeed demonstrated that leadership,” he told the Superintendent, saying that he was highly gratified to have been thus honoured.
“I want to thank you all, especially, for the honour. I want to assure you that when your prayer comes to fruition, I’ll not forget the Ascension Church,” he promised.
In the same vein, other communities including his country home, Owo, Nkanu East local government area, have continued to assure Mbah of their readiness to vote for him to become their governor.
Other governorship candidates, especially, the candidates of the main opposition parties, the Labour Party (LP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) have also been receiving encomiums and endorsements.
The All Progressives Congress, (APC), candidate, Chief Uche Nnaji, aka Nwakibeya, too is said to be campaigning vigorously underground.
Just recently, the people of Inshi-Ozalla, the country home of Mr. Frank Nweke Jnr., the APGA candidate gave him the ofo (leadership mantle), a token to encourage him to go on with his aspiration.
While the Labour Party, candidate, Hon. Chijoke Edeoga and another business mogul, Chief Everest Nnaji, aka Odengene, are embroidered in the crisis of who becomes the authentic guber candidate of the Labour Party, Edeoga has continued to embark on campaigns and has been getting endorsement from communities especially from Eha Amufu, his country home.
It has been observed that instead of campaigning openly, the candidates prefer to attend public functions where they could be noticed.
To this end, Edeoga recently attended the 76th birthday of the former Ohanaeze Ndigbo President General, Chief Nnia Nwodo, where he was openly paraded as the Labour Party governorship candidate by the Masters of Ceremony.
The organisers of the birthday bash that took place at Amadeo Hall, Enugu and attended by prominent Nigerians such as former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr. Peter Obi and the National President of the Middle Belt Forum, Dr Bitrus Pogu.
Recently, too, the APGA guber candidate Nweke attended a youth empowerment programme organised by a Youth Leader, Alumona at the Base Event Centre, Independence Layout, Enugu, an action, without equivocation, is geared towards endearing the youth to vote for him when the election comes.
The guber candidates have also embarked on humanitarian and philanthropic gestures to woo the electorate during the just ended Christmas and New Year festivities, a move aimed at not only warming themselves into the hearts of the voters but a surreptitious way of campaigning for the D-Day instead of coming out openly to say, “we are doing this because we want you to vote for us during the forthcoming election.”
A resident of Enugu metropolis, Edwin Nwizugbe said the politicians have their reasons why they are not campaigning openly. Nwizugbe said that they were afraid that unknown gunmen might attack them should they come out openly to campaign.
“Many of them are campaigning secretly for fear of the unknown gunmen. Have you not not heard how they attacked Labour Party and PDP gathering recently. They are being cautious so that they will not be attacked by the nebulous unknown gunmen which nobody knows whether it is IPOB or ECN as the security agents make us to believe,” he said.
Nwizugbe said that the PDP governorship candidate, Peter Mbah, is campaigning secretly by making sure that there is adequate supply of petrol at his Pinnacle Oil filling stations.
At Filling Station the supply of fuel is not only available but affordable because they sell at N185 while other fuel stations other than the major ones sell between N260 and N300.
“Why do you think people are queuing at the Pinnacle Oil filling stations?. It is because Peter Mbah is using it to buy voters since his filling stations are selling at affordable price,” he averred.
A political analyst, Jude Ofoke, lamented that he had never seen this type of political campaigns before.
“I don’t understand this type of election. I can say that this election is scientific. You don’t know that campaigns are going on anywhere. It is only on the social media that you see that campaigns are going on. Except for posters here and there, you don’t even know that they are campaigning,” Ofoke laments.
He hoped that when elections draw closer, the campaigns might be intensified because, “what I am seeing now, many people will not even know that campaigns are going on. Before now, we used to see campaign trains of political parties but we don’t see them anymore. Apart from the posters, the only thing that makes us know that campaigns are going on is campaign jingles on radio and some television stations and the social media.”
A man of God, who would not want his name in print expressed doubt that the elections may not hold in the South East because of the activities of unknown gunmen who attack political meetings, burn INEC offices as well as police stations. “All these things contribute to why the campaigns are not hot here. Politicians are being tactical and sceptical because they are not sure that elections will hold,” he said.
However, a prominent politician told our correspondent that no matter what the unknown gunmen do, elections must hold.
He said, “Is it not the same way they said that election will not hold in Anambra, yet the election held and in 2019 as well. When the time comes, they may approach the leadership of IPOB and the elections will hold, mark my words,” the politician said.
He said that the implication of the activities of the unknown gunmen might scare some people from coming out to vote eventually but election must hold. “Highest it will be low-key, there will be apathy but nothing will stop the elections.”
The fears are palpable and being expressed by groups and individuals as to whether elections would hold in the South East and this, no doubt, may have contributed to the lull in the campaign activities of the aspiring politicians.
