On the fifth day of week four, the class was duly informed of the need for a Governor to be elected. This announcement stirred up a lot of conversations amongst the students. The coordinator rightly explained the need for the Governor position to be filled alongside other eligible positions i.e the deputy governor, social secretary, and financial secretary. A follow up mail was sent to further elucidate on the process and the expectations from the electorate. The guidelines provided warranted that an Electoral Officer is elected by the class who in turn will be saddled with the responsibility of conducting a free and fair election. The timelines were clearly stated in one the documents shared while the Governor was expected to emerge in a matter of days.
Little did I know that politicking had began earnestly while we waited for the first task of electing an Electoral officer to begin. As the days went by, I got interested in the position of an Electoral Officer which I felt will give me some sense of fulfilment that I will pride my self as the person that conducted a free and fair election that brought in the best executives. This interest grew with each passing day and in one of our group discussions, I had mentioned it to my group members. As expected, they gave me their support as I looked forward to the elections proper. On the day of the election, I got to know the other contestant who coincidently is a friend, James Nwachuya. Coincidently, the elections began at the same time when the group organised a discussion to solve a Corporate Finance Assignment. I was a bit distracted from the class as I was interested in knowing the progress report of the elections. I kept navigating my phone between the zoom meeting and the polling forum. At last, by 9pm the die was cast, and voting ended. James Nwachuya was declared the winner with 19 votes to 18 votes. I smiled to myself and almost immediately got a phone call from James in the spirit of sportsmanship. I quickly congratulated him and wished him well in this honourable task. James immediately swung into action and sent out notifications on the upcoming elections. The elections for the executives of EMBA 28 eventually took place on March 4th and we finally have a Governor. James performed extremely well better than I would have but I’m glad I went through the process.
