November 21, (THEWILL) – Vote buying in Nigeria has become a political culture, devised, nurtured and sustained by politicians, particularly of the Fourth Republic, that any break from the norm seizes the popular imagination as odd. They are so brazen about it that they openly display video shots of their illegality, which often go viral on social media.
But the one that went viral on social media during and after the November 6, governorship election in Anambra State was so counterintuitive that it is still trending and attracting salutation on different platforms, just as public discussions are being held to eulogise the women who individually and collectively rejected the idea of selling their votes and voting, according to their conscience.
In the personal example is Mrs. Eunice Ngozi Onuegbusi from Amagu village in Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State and in the crowd example are women from Ebenebe Community who, at separate voting places, boldly refused all entreaties, pressures and enticements to sell their votes and voted for the candidates of their choice among the candidates from the 18 political parties that participated in the off-season election won by Prof Charles Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
Mrs. Onuegbusi had gone to cast her vote in Ward 1, polling unit 04 in Dunukofia LGA when she was approached by a party agent who offered her the sum of N5,000 to vote for his candidate.
According to her, she made the decision based on personal experience. “APC has done too many bad things to us,” she was heard saying in Igbo in the viral video, as she rejected the N5,000 while waiting to take her turn on the voting queue. She had insisted on voting for APGA.
But for Ebenebe, an agrarian community, it was a long journey in over three years of community interface with an NGO, Women Information Network (WINET). Executive Director of the group, Mrs. Miriam Menkiti, told THEWILL that Ebenebe was a WINET project community for three years. Although their advocacy was towards child rights issues, to highlight child rights over early marriage leading the community leader to make a proclamation against it, the spin-off from the meeting was that the community became more sensitised about their rights.
She said, “We had been working with the community on and off since 2019 not specifically on voting rights, but girl-child marriage. Here, once you get pregnant you may be married off. So, young girls were affected. Through the project, during which we educated them on the Child Rights Act, we were able to make them stop it and the community leader issued a proclamation.”
According to her, the three-year project, however, enabled them to “know their rights and assert it and say things exactly as it is.”
For her stand, she has been rewarded materially by Governor Willie Obiano. He gave her a cash reward of N1million at a church service held to commemorate her bravery.
“Madam Eunice knew that though money could buy her temporary relief, Anambra would be a better place if she voted according to her conscience,” said the governor.
Obiano added in a political tone, “Our victory belongs to our loyal party men and women, who resisted temptations of financial inducement from rival parties to fight under the banner of APGA, because they knew that victory for APGA is a victory for the ordinary citizens of our dear state.”
For the women of Ebenebe, who rejected vote-selling, it was a matter of principle. Speaking to THEWILL, Women leader of Ebenebe Town Union Women’s Wing, Mrs. Favour Nworah, said they had had enough of broken promises by past administrations in the state and decided to fall in line with Soludo once he swore that he would rebuild the community’s broken basic infrastructure, particularly roads.
“It is not about money. What we need is someone to fix our road so we can move our farm produce like plantain, tapioca, rice. There was a time when buyers for our garri (cassava flour) used to come from Port Harcourt. They don’t come any more. Because of the bad roads, our women pay up to N200 per trip to commercial motorcycle operators. That is too much for them.”
Video clips of the community by Signature TV showed a typical rural setting that still survives on subsistence farming surrounded with greenery, with all the hallmarks of poverty, non-existence of basic infrastructure like potable water, clinic, tarred roads and electricity. From their reasons adduced for rejecting the bribe, it was easy to see the genuineness of their insistence on voting for a particular candidate after extracting commitment from him.
Mrs Nworah, 41-year-old school teacher, confirmed Mrs Menkiti’s reference to the awareness of their rights as a source of their political action after the NGO sensitised the community on the girl-child rights.
“Mrs Menkiti and another group, Hope Giver, worked in our community, but her organisation worked long enough to prevent our decision to marry off any girl who got pregnant to the man, whether he is 100 years-old or younger. She kept insisting on knowing our rights. That was how we organised and I became the leader of the women. When we make some decisions we usually approach the Igwe and he would listen to us.” She said
According to her, a few days to the election the traditional ruler of the community comprising eight villages, Eze Chris Nnaegunna, summoned the women and agreed to their decision to reject any bribe.
“That was how we met and made a decision on Soludo and APGA and rejected money from the party that wanted to give us N5,000. If we sold our consciences, we would not be able to talk about our rights again.”
When asked why they pitched tent with Soludo and no other party candidate, she waxed philosophical: “We just believed he is the right person. That is how God wants it. You could not have located me for this interview if it was not meant to be.”
Asked if she and her officials were aware that Governor Obiano had rewarded Mrs Onuegbusi for performing the same feat as theirs, she did not feel disturbed by the story as she insisted that all they wanted was to ensure their community was made habitable.
“There is no amount of money we need. We just want our roads fixed and clinics running so our women do not have to go very far to get help,” she said. She also stated that her advocacy was beyond the community, now that what they planned for the election had worked out. She disclosed that at a time vote-buyers increased the offer to N10,000 and they still rejected them.
When asked what the way forward was, Mrs. Nworah, who disclosed that she was speaking from Abuja where she was billed to receive an award on Thursday, said she would take the campaign on women knowing and insisting on their rights, throughout Awka North Local Government Area.
“It is good for women to know their rights and defend them.”
She also appealed for media support to ensure that issues affecting women are given sufficient attention by the government, adding that continued reportage of the Ebenebe matter, for example, would keep Soludo on his toes to deliver on his promises for the community.
In his reaction, Eze Nnaegbunna reportedly explained why he gave support to the women of his community.
According to him, the only road leading to the community had remained incomplete since May 1, 2007 when it was flagged-off by the then Governor Peter Obi. The women identified with someone they thought would make a huge impact in their lives.
“We voted for APGA and Soludo. As women we thought that if we sold our conscience we would not be able to take any stand on our rights again,” said Mrs. Nworah, who revealed that she was not afraid of any form of attack, adding that she too understood politics.
Further investigation showed that Soludo’s campaign train was able to articulate its manifesto in a way that captured the imagination of the women to discern and identify with his message.
Against the background of allegation by Situation Room, an election observer group and former Governor Peter Obi during the election, the feat by these women stands not only as a symbol of personal and group conviction but also as a real possibility that the anti-democratic, vote-buying monster illegality can be tamed.
About the Author
Amos Esele is the Deputy Editor of THEWILL Newspaper. He has over two decades of experience on the job.
