Elections are supposed to be the ultimate expression of the people’s will. In reality, they often reveal the machinery of power and the forces determined to suffocate true democracy.
The just-concluded Anambra South Senatorial Bye-Election is one such example; a spectacle of systemic sabotage, where national and state-level interests colluded to frustrate the aspirations of the people’s candidate, Don Amamgbo Donald Chidi.
Amamgbo did not arrive on the scene as a career politician fattened by the spoils of office. He stood out precisely because he was different.
Running under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), he conducted what many observers described as the most transparent, credible, and people-driven campaign among all aspirants.
Unlike others who leaned on entrenched political structures and the patronage of godfathers, Amamgbo charted a noble but lonely path. He single-handedly funded his campaign and built a grassroots movement anchored on sacrifice and service. As he often told his supporters:
“I did not come into this race to enrich myself or bow to any godfather. I came here because Ndị Anambra South deserve a senator who owes his mandate only to the people.”
A PLOT UNFOLDS ON THE EVE OF THE ELECTIONS
On the night before ballots were cast, a carefully woven plot began to unravel. At the centre of this scheme was the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), whose actions betrayed the fingerprints of manipulation.
The ADC discovered that while polling unit agent tags were released, those of Ward and Local Government collation agents were deliberately withheld. Without these tags, the party’s ability to defend votes at collation centres was crippled.
In Ihiala, matters were worse. Reports confirmed that INEC circulated a doctored list of polling agents that did not match the authentic list submitted by ADC and uploaded on the commission’s portal. Such discrepancies are not clerical errors, they are deliberate sabotage.
Amamgbo captured the frustration in his reaction:
“How do you explain an election where one party is denied collation agents? That is like asking us to play a football match blindfolded while the referee looks the other way. It was a calculated attempt to silence the people’s voice.”
APC AND APGA: A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE
The bigger conspiracy becomes clearer when one examines the political arrangement between APC and APGA. At the federal level, APC, which oversees INEC, appeared content to let APGA secure the senatorial seat. In return, APGA produced a candidate tethered to the control of Governor Charles Soludo.
This arrangement reduces democracy to a puppet show. The senator becomes the puppet, Soludo the puppet master, and APC the absentee landlord who returns occasionally to harvest influence.
Amamgbo warned of the dangers of such a setup:
“What Anambra South needs is an independent voice, not a puppet. A senator who answers to a governor or a party boss cannot represent you. He will represent their interests, not yours.”
THE PEOPLE AS THE REAL VICTIMS
What transpired in Anambra South is not just the sabotage of Don Amamgbo, it is the disenfranchisement of an entire people. Once again, voters were starved of the opportunity to elect a candidate who truly represented their aspirations.
This deliberate weakening of the people’s will mirrors the fable of the starved dog and the well-fed dog: the ruling class ensures that the people remain hungry for justice, while feeding their own agents of convenience to grow fat on power and privilege.
Amamgbo put it more bluntly:
“Every time we are denied our choice, our children pay the price. We cannot continue to starve the people of hope, and then expect Nigeria to prosper. If we destroy faith in the ballot, we destroy democracy itself.”
A CAUTIONARY TALE
Don Amamgbo’s senatorial bid should not be reduced to a story of personal loss. It is a cautionary tale about how democracy in Nigeria continues to be hijacked by vested interests, aided by institutions meant to safeguard it. Until systemic sabotage of this nature is exposed and resisted, the Nigerian electorate will remain trapped in a cycle where competence, sacrifice, and integrity are punished, while puppetry and compromise are rewarded.
Anambra South deserved better. Nigeria deserves better. And until voices like Don Amamgbo’s are allowed to flourish without the chokehold of sabotage, our democracy will remain an empty ritual, rather than the true expression of the people’s will.
Arthur Ezechukwu is a Media and Business Growth Expert, a published Author, with experience that spans more than a decade.