Issues that’ll shape Anambra guber
As residents of Anambra State prepare to elect the next governor of the state on Saturday, November 8, various political parties and their candidates have been criss-crossing the wards, local government areas and senatorial districts seeking for votes and support of the people.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that 16 candidates will participate in the exercise and each had this firm conviction that when the results will be announced, they will be the winner of the election.
Those cleared by INEC include Governor Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), and John Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Also cleared by INEC are George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP), Echezona Oti of the Allied People’s Movement (APM), Ms. Chioma Ifemeludike of the African Action Congress (AAC), Jeff Nweke of Action Alliance (AA), Charles Onyeze of Accord Party (AP), Geoff Onyejegbu of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), and Jude Ezenwafor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Others are Chukwudubem Nweke of the Action Peoples Party (APP), Jerry Okeke of the Boot Party (BP), Ndidi Olieh of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), Martin Ugwoji of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and Vincent Chukwurah of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
The electoral umpire also said that the election would be conducted in 5,718 polling units across the 21 local government areas of the state.
Despite the fact that 16 political parties would participate in the election, analysts believed that the exercise will a four horse race between the APGA, APC, ADC and Labour Party. These parties are considered as the most visible and easy to identify by the people.
Iwitnesslive spotlights the four candidates, their profile and chances.
Charles Soludo — All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)
The incumbent, Soludo’s needs no introduction, having served as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Now seeking a second term in office, the APGA chieftain will be gunning for the position alongside Ibezim Onyekachukwu — the current deputy governor. Soludo, 64, is wooing residents of the state on the premise of building on his achievements in his first tenure and building smart cities and rails, among others.
Ukachukwu Nicholas — All Progressives Congress (APC)
Though the APC is leading the country, Ukachukwu will be seeking to dislodge the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) on November 8. The 58-year-old has Ekwunife Uche as a running mate. He is a native of Osumenyi, Nnewi South Local Government Area. Ukachukwu’s key promises include fighting insecurity and fixing the Anambra economy.
George Moghalu — Labour Party (LP)
Moghalu is a former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA). A former chieftain of the APC, the Labour Party man attended IMT in Enugu State. He will be running for the post with Okaro Veronica. Moghalu is from Nnewi North LGA, Anambra State. He has a 12-point action plan for the South-East state if elected as its governor.
Nwosu Chuma —African Democratic Congress (ADC)
Nwosu of the ADC is 61, and an economist. He will be running for the post alongside Nwobu Ndubuisi. He has a seven-point agenda called SHEEEMS —Security, Health, Education, Economy, Environment, Management, and Social Welfare.
Apart from the candidates, there are a lot of factors that will influence the voting pattern in this election and those factors have been the template for the politics of the state.
Zoning arrangement
Though this is an unwritten agreement, it has come to stay and in the last four gubernatorial elections in Anambra State most leading political parties had produced candidates taking cognizance of that zoning agreement. At the moment Anambra South Senatorial District is enjoying its slot at the seat of power and the incumbent, Governor Charles Soludo, from the district, is seeking a second term in office.
However, he is not the only candidate from Anambra South as Chief George Moghalu of Labor Party (LP), Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Mr. John Nwosu of African Democratic Congress (ADC) are also from the area.
It is being contended by leaders of Anambra Central Senatorial District that should any of the contestants besides Soludo emerge as governor, he will certainly seek for a second term hence denying the district its turn to produce governor four years after Soludo hence insisting that Soludo should be given a second term.
But other candidates from Anambra North and Central contend that zoning is unconstitutional and that there was never a time the people of Anambra collectively agreed on that. The likes of Paul Chukwuma of the Young Democratic Party (YPP ) and Jeff Nweke of the Action Alliance ( AA), particularly dismissed the zoning arrangement insisting that the governance of Anambra State should not be reduced to a mere representative position.
The arguments for and against zoning, notwithstanding, it is being touted that Soludo appears to have a better chance of getting reelected in respect of the arrangement.
Party loyalty
While members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are of the strong conviction that Anambra needs to connect to the centre given the fact that it is the party in power in the country, it is being rumoured that the party might rely on federal might to ensure that its candidate, Ukachukwu emerges victorious in the election.
Conversely, the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra insists that being a foremost progressive party in the country before APC, both parties are working together as was declared by Soludo during President Bola Tinubu’s visit to the state.
It is also a fact that most Anambra electorate are not comfortable with APC being in power in the state and outcomes of past gubernatorial elections have shown that APGA indeed has a firm grip on the state, having been in power for almost 20 years now.
The federal might factor, which has always been the trump card of the APC has never worked. Senator Tony Nwoye was the governorship candidate of the APC in 2017 and it was concluded that then President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to the state for his campaign flag off would seal the fate of then Governor Willie Obiano of APGA in getting a second term but that did not happen as Obiano won the election.
Similarly, when Senator Andy Uba contested as candidate of the APC, a similar dummy was sold to the Anambra electorate that it was over before the election proper but Uba was defeated by Soludo.
It is against these backdrops that some pundits are of the view that this weekend’s election will toe similar paths hence predicting that Soludo will emerge tops.
However, some political analysts are of the view that an upset is likely to happen. LP is going into the election with the Obidient Movement which shook Nigeria’s political landscape in 2023, when former Governor Peter Obi contested as its presidential candidate.
LP’s governorship candidate, Chief Moghalu, is not only optimistic that Obi’s political clout will change the narrative, but confident that the electorate will surely vote for him because of Obi.
However, it is not only LP that is riding on the crest of Obi. The ADC is also part of the conversation given that Obi is part of the opposition coalition that has adopted the party as its platform for the 2027 elections. As expected, the scramble for Obi’s endorsement has drawn a battle line between LP and ADC.
The Director General of LP and George Moghalu Campaign Council, Okey Chukwuogo, who spoke on the issue, said Obi cannot be in two parties at a time. He added that those peddling the report are living in delusion. “ADC cannot be laying claim to Peter Obi and you don’t lay claim to someone that is not in your party,” he said.
Chukwuogo opined that it is not automatic that Obi will contest the 2027 presidency. According to him, “there is no guarantee that the coalition will use the ADC and there is no guarantee that Obi will run for presidency on the platform of the ADC.”
He added: “In fact, from the look of things Peter Obi will not run for presidency under the ADC. He wants to be president of Nigeria but not through a coalition that is not clear. So, Obi is in Labour Party and we speak with him on daily basis.”
Anambra State chairman of the ADC, Comrade Patrick Obiano, on his part, said the confusion over membership can only be cleared by Obi. “Let me say that the question over membership should have been directed to Peter Obi. However, I know that Peter Obi has severely said that he is part of the coalition and that he is in the ADC because of the coalition
“You should also know that the Labour Party is part of the coalition not withstanding that they have internal crisis in that party. At the meeting where this question came up, Obi said that he is in the ADC as a member of the coalition,” Obiano explained.
He, however, argued that despite the support Obi gave to the candidates of his party during the recent by-elections in the state, they all failed. He therefore insisted that Obi’s support for the LP candidate, Moghalu, doesn’t transcend to Moghalu winning the election.
“No one can actually undermine the popularity of Mr. Peter Obi but he is not the one that is contesting. If Peter Obi is contesting, it would have been a different thing. You cannot easily forget that he supported Amamgbo, our candidate in the Anambra South Senatorial District by-election and he failed.
“He also supported the woman in Onitsha North state Assembly by-election and she failed. We are looking at the person who is contesting and his pedigree. So, nobody can force the people of Anambra State to vote against their will. So, the support of Peter Obi has minor effects on the chances of the candidates “he said.
Politics of religion/denomination
Apparently, the church has come to be one of the determinant factors in Anambra elections given the fact that the practice of wholesale purchase through the churches, has in the past, played out in favour of eventual winners of those elections. Interestingly, APGA has remained the only beneficiary.
It was this politics of wholesale purchase that gave Obi a second term victory despite the fact they the likes of Senator Chris Ngige of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Soludo of the then Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where all Catholics like Obi.
It equally played out in favour of Obiano in both his first and second terms elections. The incumbent governor, Soludo, also benefited from it in the last election. However a lot of claims and counter-claims are already trending over who the church will support and it all boils down to the position of the Catholics church.
Apparently, all the frontline candidates with the exception of Ukachukwu of the APC are Catholics, while their running mates are Anglicans.
It is being speculated that both the Catholic and Anglican churches have issues with Soludo hence may not back him. The belief is that the burial law made by the state Assembly is a minus for the governor hence his chances are slim.
However, the Chief of Staff to the governor, Chief Ernest Ezeajughi, who dismissed the claim, insisted that Soludo enjoys a very cordial relationship with the churches.
Ezeajughi noted that what is expected is the good governance of Anambra State, which Soludo is providing and it is not for a particular Christian denomination or religion.
But true to the nature of Anambra politics, the congregation is waiting for a final Episcopal directive from the bishops on who to vote for even as it is also being argued that most voters may choose to jettison the clerics and make their own choices.
However, there are some church leaders, who indeed, have soft spot for Soludo and in the midst of these trajectories, the incumbent also has the capacity to turn the table against his traducers since most of his aides and appointees are knights of both the Catholic and Anglican churches.
Political godfathers factor
Against all the odds and huddles it is a known fact that there are political godfathers, who play key roles in determining who emerges winner of any gubernatorial election in Anambra State. These godfathers do not really belong to political parties or are too attached to their respective religious denominations as they are the benefactors of most of the candidates in the race. They are business magnates, and once they speak, it is done and dusted.
They include billionaire philanthropists such as Prince Arthur Eze and Sir Emeka Offor as well as business moguls like Chief Allen Onyema (CEO of Air Peace), Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson Motors, Sir Dan Chukwudozie .of Dozy Oil and gas Ltd, Ernest Obiejezie of Nest Oil and and ABC Orjiakor (a former chairman of Seplat Energy).
Among the five major candidates, it appears that the tide is in favour of Soludo given his relationship with these power brokers when he was the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the past three years he has been the visit of governor of Anambra State.
Recall that during President Tinubu’s visit to Anambra State, Offor openly announced the endorsement of the president for a second term and also urged him to support Soludo for a second term. He added that he would personally lead the governor’s campaign for a second term and same had remained the position of most power brokers in the state.
Even a former governor of the state, Ngige though in the APC but now on sabbatical, has given Soludo the nod and has never been seen at any of rally by the flag bearer of his party – Ukachukwu.
While there is no doubt that APGA remains a party to beat in the election given Soludo’s performance so far and the incumbency factor, which he may enjoy, his opponents believe that issue of insecurity is a major reason why he should be voted out.
