85-YEAR-OLD ANAMBRA VOTER RECALLS NNAMDI AZIKIWE’S ADVICE, REFUSES TO COLLECT MONEY TO VOTE

November 8, 2025

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An 85-year-old voter, Pa Francis Emeka, from Umuleri community in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State, has shared why he refuses to collect money in exchange for his vote, citing an enduring lesson from Nigeria’s first President, the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

Speaking during the ongoing Anambra governorship election, Emeka said his decision was rooted in a personal encounter with Azikiwe several decades ago in Niger State, where the nationalist urged citizens never to sell their votes.

“I came to vote. I don’t collect money to vote,” the octogenarian told our correspondent. “During the time of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Awolowo, they came to the Northern Region. I was in Niger at that time. Mopol was beating me when I climbed Nnamdi Azikiwe’s vehicle. Then he said they should leave me.

“Everybody knows that Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was a popular man in Nigeria. He was telling us at that time that we should not collect money to vote. So, from that time, I have always come out to vote, and I do not collect money to vote,” he said.

Pa Emeka, who participated in the election on Saturday, said he continues to uphold the principle of voting according to conscience not for financial gain.

The election features 16 political parties vying for the governorship seat, including the incumbent, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).