Anambra Poll: Vote-Buying Allegations Convenient Excuse To Mourn Losses – Analyst

Public affairs analyst Jide Ojo has dismissed allegations of vote buying in the recently concluded Anambra Gubernatorial elections, describing them as “A convenient excuse for people to mourn their losses.”

Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast show The Morning Brief, Ojo said that some candidates, particularly from smaller parties like the Labour Party and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), are using the issue of vote buying to justify their poor performance.

“This issue of vote buying, I think, is just a convenient excuse for people to mourn their losses,” he said. “Imagine someone like the Labour Party candidate or the ADC candidate saying they could not have won because of vote buying, it is not true.”

Ojo argued that winning elections goes far beyond monetary inducement, stressing that factors such as party structure, visibility, and proper campaign strategy are far more decisive.

“The issue of winning and losing elections goes beyond the monetary purchase of votes. It has to do with a lot of other things. Did they have a structure? Did they campaign?” he questioned.

He noted that the only strong campaigns in the election were those of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate, Governor Charles Soludo, who was “light years ahead” of his competitors.

“In this election, we saw that the only robust campaigns that took place were between the APC candidate and the APGA candidate. In fact, Soludo was light years ahead of his competitors; he was on air, on national networks, paid for live transmissions, and people knew he was campaigning,” Ojo stated.

He criticised some of the other 15 candidates for what he described as “political evangelism,” saying, “You’re not going to win elections by just visiting shops and small gatherings.”

Ojo also pointed out internal crises within major opposition parties as a key reason for their electoral setbacks.

“Look at the Labour Party, PDP, and ADC  all in crisis. Even the leader of the Labour Party couldn’t deliver his polling unit,” he added.

He concluded that the narrative of vote trading is misplaced, insisting that election outcomes are shaped more by preparedness and strategy than by alleged vote buying.