Anambra State Cannot Afford the Distraction of Bad Losers

Yes, in any democratic setting, people are free to ventilate their grievances and to seek redress over any perceived wrong. That is the reason why after an election, candidates who feel hard done by always approach the tribunals to seek redress.

The Anambra State governorship election has come and gone, with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declaring the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, the winner of that election.

It was an election perceived to be free and fair, despite difficulties encountered with the machines used for the election. Such difficulties, sadly, have always been part of our elections, but most often they have not been targeted at putting any particular candidate at a disadvantage.

The free and fair nature of the recently conducted election in Anambra State was such that most of the defeated candidates wasted no time in congratulating the winner, Prof Soludo. Some of them, though pointing out that some aspects of the election left much to be desired, still decided to move on in the spirit of sportsmanship.

That is the way it should be. In any such contest, there must only be one winner; not two.

Those men who have elected to move on are those who place the public good ahead of personal interest. We commend them for putting the state and the people first.

But one particular candidate has, though it is within his constitutional rights to challenge the result of the election, been displaying what amounts to an unnecessary distraction and open belligerence by threatening to go to court. The fact that the said candidate came third even makes his threat puerile.

We are therefore compelled to urge any candidate seeking to challenge the election of Soludo in court to simmer down and take up the hand of fellowship offered to them by Soludo. Anambra State needs a lot of urgent work and this cannot be actualized if the incoming governor is distracted by unnecessary litigation.

This is therefore no time to grumble but a time to join hands and build a better state for all, especially when the election produced one adjudged to be the true winner.

It is time people stopped going to court for the sake of doing so. We are satisfied that the votes of people counted; even if the turn out might not have been as expected.

Anambra should come first.