PARALLAX SNAPS: Anambra Absurdity: When Degrees, Mouth and Body Odour Replace Ideas in Campaigns

By Tony Okafor

Never in the history of Anambra State since its creation in 1991 have political campaigns descended to such depths.

The era when candidates engaged the electorate with substance—presenting manifestos anchored on vision, policy, and development—is now replaced by triviality.

This campaign season has degenerated into absurd quarrels over whose university degree is superior or who is allegedly afflicted with body or mouth odour.

To any discerning observer, this is manifest absurdity—evidence of emptiness and a politics stripped of substance.

It is a shameful chapter in the state’s democratic journey, where voters are denied meaningful dialogue. Campaigns, which ought to enlighten the electorate and prepare them for informed choices, have been hijacked by distractions that insult public intelligence. This should trouble every citizen who values the integrity of democracy.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as the regulatory authority, must act decisively to restore dignity and order.

Section 92 of the Electoral Act 2022 expressly forbids campaigns conducted with abusive language, ridicule, or innuendo likely to provoke negative reactions. Reducing debates to questions of degrees and body odour is a blatant violation of this provision.

The law prescribes clear sanctions: candidates risk up to 12 months’ imprisonment or fines, while political parties face penalties of ₦2,000,000 for a first offence and ₦1,000,000 for each subsequent breach.INEC must enforce these provisions without fear or favour.

The Nigeria Police Force, for its part, must ensure that this descent into gutter politics does not spill into disorder. Laws exist to be applied; nobody should be above them.

Election campaigns are not sideshows; they are the very soul of democracy. They provide a platform for vision, debate, and accountability. When reduced to taunts about certificates and personal hygiene, democracy itself suffers.

Let principle, respect, and vision guide Anambra’s campaigns in the remaining weeks to the November 8 poll to enable
the electorate make informed choices.