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Fairy godfathers and magical elections: understanding the 2003 electoral crisis in Anambra State, Nigeria*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2010

Leena Hoffmann
Leena Hoffmann*
Affiliation:
Centre of West African Studies, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
*
Emails: LKA479@bham.ac.uk, leenahoffmann@yahoo.co.uk
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Abstract

On 10 July 2003, a civilian coup was attempted in Anambra state in South-east Nigeria. Barely two months after Chris Ngige was sworn in as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor of Anambra, a team of armed policemen disarmed his security detail and took him into custody. The governor's attempted ousting made public the breakdown of his relationship with his political godfather, Chief Chris Uba, and sparked a debate on godfather politics in Nigeria. Using the case of Anambra, this article investigates the complex network of personalised relationships that holders of state power maintain with their national and local clientelistic constituencies. It explores the political underpinnings of the crisis and its links to national-level power dynamics, particularly within the ruling party and the Obasanjo presidency.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 285 - 310
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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Footnotes

*

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the African Studies Association UK conference, SOAS, September 2007. I would like to thank my supervisor Dr Insa Nolte for her support and guidance as well as the editor Christopher Clapham for his contribution to merging two earlier drafts of this article. Thanks also to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments, and to Jo Hoffmann, Bolaji Abdullahi and Chief Audu Ogbeh. The usual disclaimers apply.

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Newspapers and agencies (published in Lagos except as noted)

Daily Champion; Newswatch; Reuters (London); TheGuardian; The News; The Punch; ThisDay; Vanguard.

Interviews

Ogbeh Audu, former PDP national chairman, Abuja, 9.9.2005