… As LP, PDP, APC set to wrest power from APGA

From Emmanuel Uzor, Awka

As time inches close to the end of Prof Chukwuma Soludo’s first term as governor of Anambra State, various intrigues and power play have become visible.

In 2025, the people of Anambra State will be returning to the polls to either re-elect incumbent  Governor Soludo whose tenure will end on March 17, 2025 or elect a new helmsman.

Ahead of the governorship election, many salient political issues have come to the front burner with the various challenges and obstacles staring the governor in the face.

Besides visible intractable opposition to Soludo’s smooth return to power, certain determinants have over the years made Anambra governorship election a very interesting one.

One among the various things that make Anambra guber election distinct from others has always been the independent mindedness of the electorate to vote according to their choices.

Apart from the fact of the election being  off-cycle, Anambra has always have sympathy for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) since the introduction of the party through the victory of former Governor Peter Obi in 2003.

And since then till date, APGA has remained unbeaten in all the governorship elections that were held in the state, a feat many believe cannot be easily upturned.

APGA has enjoyed the popularity of the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, as well as reaped bountifully from the slogan of the party: ‘Onye aghana nwanne ya’ (meaning no one should leave his brother behind), which is the watchword of the Igbo.

Maybe, this slogan has become the driving force behind the success of the party as far as Anambra governorship election is concerned.

However, in the face of the visible fortunes of the party and its dominance in Anambra State politics, time seems to have changed and the political landscape greatly rejigged.

Many political analysts believe that the political fortune of APGA has dwindled in the state and her chances of smooth or massive rise to power are now greatly depleted. They have put questions to the much-celebrated slogan of 21 over 21, APGA is reputed to have under former Governor Willie Obiano.

The 21 over 21 mantra came to the fore after the second term victory of the immediate past governor of the state, Chief Obiano. His victory in the 21 out of 21 local government areas of the state was to some large extent, a turningpoint for APGA dominance in the state.

Standing on the euphoria of the landslide victory of the party, the present governor, Prof Soludo rode victoriously to power after defeating his closest rival and the political son of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.

Obi had thrown his weight behind his preferred candidate, Valentine Ozigbo in the then Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, but they bowed to the supremacy of APGA in the guber poll.

But presently,  time has passed and many events have taken place. And the foundation of the party has been shaken, giving way to lots of bickering among stakeholders within the party.

First, it was the long and big fight between the former National Leader of APGA, Senator Victor Umeh shortly after declaration of Prof Soludo by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

The crisis that started like a storm in Soludo’s teacup became intractable and finally snowballed into Senator Umeh ditching the party he had held the umbilical cord for years and recorded great electoral successes for Labour Party.

Undoubtedly, the exist of Umeh and his subsequent reunion with his brother and estranged political ally, the former governor of Anambra State, Obi, in Labour Party became a masterstroke.

Though APGA leadership dismissed the effects of Umeh’ s exit from the party, shortly after his departure, the fortunes of the once robust and united party started dwindling and APGA started grappling with so much problems and intractable litigations that have further affected the party in the last general elections.

At the end of the February 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state, APGA lost the three senatorial zone seats to Labour Party and Young Progressives Party, YPP respectively.

With Obi at the forefront and leading the offensive attacks at the APGA territory and Umeh not there again, Governor Soludo and APGA were overrun and his own territory even taken from him by the opposition parties.

Senator Umeh after ditching APGA joined the Labour Party where he contested for the Anambra Central Senatorial zone election and defeated APGA candidate, Chief Dozie Nwankwo and Senator Uche Ekwunife of the PDP.

Many sins of Governor Soludo

Expectedly as obtainable in Nigerian politics as regards relationship between political godfathers and their political godsons after the elections, the relationship between Soludo and his predecessor,  Obiano allegedly went sour.

The hurricane wave of Labour Party  also swept away the wife of Obiano, Mrs Ebele Obiano, who contested for the Anambra North Senatorial District seat on the platform of APGA with her losing to Senator Tony Nwoye of the Labour Party.

The loss of Obiano’s wife was largely blamed on the indifference of Governor Soludo and his aides to work and deliver the wife of his predecessor in a very serious election as a way of payback for making him (Soludo) the governor.

Apart from the sorrowful tales from the last election in the state, especially the National Assembly, there is also residual crisis brewing in APGA as the party “strongmen”  who worked for the emergence of Soludo under Obiano have been allegedly dumped by the governor.

The party, therefore, has lost its fortress in the various parts of the state. With several litigations in the party and the subsequent ganging up of some political heavyweights in the state, the future of APGA looks bleak.

In the wake of the whole drama and rumours of uncertainty, the news of the death of 42 former appointees of ex-Governor Obiano following the inability of the present administration to pay them their severance package also got people into frenzy.

The former appointees lamented that 42 of their members had died without receiving their severance allowances and appealed to Prof Soludo to facilitate the payment of their severance allowances.

Speaking during a reunion, the former Senior Special Assistant on Political Matters to Willie Obiano (2014/2022), Chief Onyeka Mbaso, said that the grand reunion was borne out of his love for Anambra state.

“This is a grand reunion and the event is a platform to tell Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo that the former appointees are a strong formidable force he will count on because the former appointees were instrumental to the 21/21 former Governor Willie Obiano got in 2017. 42 former appointees have died without their severance packages and their families are currently suffering without help,” he lamented.

Soludo’s Deputy, Dr Onyekachukwu Ibezim, who was a former political appointee under Obiano urged the former aides not to despair, but to trust in God, adding that Governor Soludo was a former appointee to Obiano and as such there was no reason to panic.

Yet, there are still nagging issues of Governor Soludo neglecting and leaving many stakeholders of APGA behind.

For instance, Hon. Chinedu Obidigwe, considered one of the strongest men of the Obiano administration,  seems to have fallen out of favour in the eyes of the governor.

Obidigwe, a former member of House of Representatives who represented Anambra East and West lost his second term bid on APGA mandate, a situation that has escalated the rift between some of Obiano’s political henchmen and Governor Soludo.

While Obiano’s former aides awaited favourable response from Soludo, the Anambra governor told them to count themselves lucky to have served the state in their various capacities, citing that he served his predecessor in different capacities and never received salaries.

Soludo reminded them that it was a privilege for them to have served the state, adding that all they owed God and the people should be gratitude for standing out amongst millions of other equally qualified people who could not be appointed to serve.

He rather told them that as a former appointee who served as the chairman, Board of the Golden Tulip Hotels, Agulu, and the chairman of the Anambra Vision 2070 committee, he provided his service “free of charge”, saying that he did not charge a penny for the tasks he performed.

The renaming of Anambra Airport after Prof Chinua Achebe by Governor Soludo has also been viewed as an afront on his precessor.

The Anambra Airport, Umueri was considered one of the legacy projects of the Obiano led administration.

Chief Josh Agba believes that Soludo erred by hurriedly renaming the signature project he did not build after another person without recourse to his predecessor.

Agba believes that though nothing was wrong with the person whose name was given as sign of immortalizing Achebe, Soludo ought to have consulted Obiano before taking the step.

Some of these things are part of the graveyard silence in the state signalling imminent crisis.

As the 2025 governorship election comes in focus, other opposition parties like the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APC, Labour Party and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have started to strategise.

Yet, there seems to be a very serious crisis within APGA at the national level over its leadership. The  party as it stands today still parades two national chairmen, who are laying claims to the soul of the party.

One of the National Chairmen of APGA, Chief Edozie Njoku had accused Governor Soludo of anti-party and urged him to allow the party have peace.

Njoku made the appeal following an Abuja High Court ruling that dismissed forgery allegations levelled against him by the Nigeria Police, describing the judgment as victory for the party.

It will be recalled that the Nigeria Police Force had on November 22, last year, charged Njoku and the Youth leader of the party, Chukwuemeka Nwoga, to court for allegedly conspiring with others at large to alter a judgment of the Supreme Court delivered by Justice Mary Peter Odili (rtd).

Njoku while addressing newsmen following his discharge and acquittal alleged that Soludo, instead of investing in rebuilding the party that gave him the platform to become the governor of the state, has been “wasting the state’s funds in fighting him and bringing the party to its knees.”

He, however, advised the governor to join the APC if he so wishes and allow the core members of APGA to stay in the party in peace.

His words: “Everybody knows my case. It is not going to be perfect. It was from this court that I went and spent two days in the prison, but since that day I kept saying that justice will come at last, especially when billionaires are involved.

“There’s a governor of the state who is using the state resources to unleash a war against me for what reason I don’t know. Maybe he thinks I’m not going to be a rubber-stamp who he will be controlling, but he might be joking.

“He might not be serious. All I’m asking Charles Soludo to do is let us have peace in APGA If he wants to join APC that’s not a problem, but he should allow those who believe in APGA to settle down. I’m calling on Charles Soludo to end it now.”

In a statement too,  the APC in Anambra State also accused Governor Soludo of diverting the palliative given by the Federal Government and allegedly diverting same for the purpose of seeking re-election in 2025.

The zonal Chairman of APC in Anambra South, Mr Izuchukwu Okeke had accused Soludo of sidelining opposition parties in distributing the palliative, adding that such exercise was supposed to be open for all Anambra citizens irrespective of political inclinations.

Okeke alleged that the PDP, LP and other political parties were also sidelined by the governor even when they are also citizens of the state.

Hear him: “It is saddening to APC in Anambra State that Governor Charles Soludo of APGA went as far as rebranding those palliative items with his picture and his party logo on them.

“Soludo in a desperate bid to feather his own nest and that of his party has displayed high handedness, arm-twisting without recourse to stakeholders, leaders and elders of other political parties such as the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Labour Party, among others who are also Anambra people from the ward, local government to state levels.

“Even in my local government area, as well as my hometown, Azigbo in Nnewi South Local Government Area, the governor chose to turn blind eye to the need for a judicious distribution of those palliatives using APGA members and ultimately providing those palliatives to only APGA members while abandoning members of APC whose political party made available those materials.”

However, reacting to the allegations by APC leader, State Chairman of APGA, Ifeatu Obiokoye dismissed those claims, describing them as crowd-chasing allegations to get unnecessary political relevance.

“Much as we would not want to join issues with the APC, it is instructive to state that those allegations are baseless and an affront to gain cheep political relevance and it is on record that Governor Charles Soludo has since inception been running an all inclusive government.

“The governor had announced the receipt of those palliatives from the Federal Government and had set up a clear template for its distribution which cuts across political parties because the members are from Anambra State.

“The APC knows that it has no structure in the state and has been working to gain political milage through peddling of rumours and falsehood,” he said.

APC and LP threats

As Soludo swims through the turbulent waters, his woes seem to have been compounded by the seeming scheming by two major political parties in Anambara State ahead of his return to Anambra Government House in 2025.

The recent defection of two strong politicians from PDP and YPP to APC has further fueled speculations that the party at the national level may have concluded plans to wrest power from Soludo and his APGA.

Recently,  Senators Uche Ekwunife and Ifeanyi Uba defected from PDP and YPP respectively to APC in what looked as moves to seek greener political pastures.

Though APC in Anambra State has been grappling with internal crisis, the entrance of the duo has been viewed by many as a turningpoint in the party.

The state Chairman of the APC in Anambra State, Chief Basil Ejidike, who formally received the two Senators hailed the leadership qualities of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while requesting more commitment from the members of the party

Ejidike,  who spoke about the prospect of APC taking Anambra State in 2025 through the new entrants during the welcoming ceremony/stakeholders meeting held at Finotel hotel in Awka, said: “We can achieve this great feat if we want because the manpower and resources are readily available.

“Year 2025 affords us yet another opportunity to contest and win Anambra State Government House. Let us as one family work towards achieving this goal for our party.

“I enjoin you the new members not to fail to sustain their dogged and positive humanitarian spirits, which is their hallmark. We urge you to double this inherent spirit in your service to the party.

“The APC will definitely provide you the platform to do more in this regard. I pledge our unalloyed support and co-operation in all our dealings with all of you. Please, be rest assured that the party is large enough to accommodate everyone’s political aspirations.”

Chief Ejidike noted that the flag of the party will fly in the Government House, Awka come 2025 which, according to him, will make him to be fulfilled.

Senator Ubah who defected to APC from the YPP, a platform he won Senatorial seat twice said the wait for APC to take Anambra Government House had ended.

“APC would no longer keep quiet in Anambra, pretending that all was well when things are going wrong. APC has finally arrived in Anambra State.

“For the past 20 years of democracy in Nigeria, Anambra State has been lagging behind in national discourse. It is now time for us to move to the centre. I am not afraid of debate with anybody. When the time comes, we will all stand for the debate. My interest is to ensure that Anambra State is attached to all the benefits that accrued from the centre,” he said.

On her part, Senator Uche Ekwunife who is currently the Director General, South East Governors’ Forum while appreciating members of her new party,  APC, for welcoming her and her teeming supporters, vowed to support the party in all aspects.

She said that APC is now a party to beat in Anambra State and  solicited peace and unity among members of the party in the state to enable them give good account of their strength in the coming governorship election.

Meanwhile, as the 2025 governorship election is fast approaching with all intricacies, it’s no longer news that the LP is a big threat to Soludo’s return.

Parading the likes of the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr Obi and having won two major senatorial seats in the state, the party is undoubtedly, a very big source of concern to APGA and other opposition political parties.

Labour Party won two out of the three senatorial seats, Anambra Central and Anambra North. With Senator Umeh holding sway for the party in Anambra Central, the young and energetic Nwoye sits tight in Anambra North on the platform of Labour Party.

Many believe that with the combination of Senator Umeh who was the political talisman of APGA and Nwoye, the election will be very tough for their opponents.

With Obi’s image still looming large in the political landscape of Anambra, many believe that Valentine Ozigbo who gave Soludo big run in the last election in PDP may be coming back for a serious fight now on the new platform of Labour Party having resigned his membership of PDP.

Some stakeholders in Anambra State had approached Senator Nwoye to vie for the 2025 governorship poll in the state.

If Nwoye accedes to the stakeholders’ pressure, he would contest the poll with the incumbent Governor Soludo of APGA and the Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District, Chief Ubah of the APC.

Odds favour Soludo

With the visible threats to Soludo’s chances of returning to Awka Government House  as governor in 2025, many odds favour the former CBN governor.

Soludo seems to have an edge over his political enemies. Many believe that many things will come to consideration when the people of the state will be filing out to elect a new governor in 2025.

Prominent among these considerations will be zoning formula which has been enthroned in Anambra politics.

Though not officially announced, the state since the time of Obi’s eight years, from Central and Obiano’s eight years from North, it will become a political question for Anambra South to complete their own quota.

Since the time of return of democracy, Anambra South has not done more than one term in Anambra governorship seat.

In fact, the longest the zone had served in that capacity was that of the late Dr. Chinweoke Mbadinuju who served four years from 1999 to 2003.

The likes of the late late Chukwuemeka Ezife, Andy Uba and Dame Virgy Etiaba, all from Anambra South zone had their tenures truncated and short-lived by various  crisis and obstacles.

So Governor Soludo who hails from Isuofia in Aguata council area of Anambra South zone was drafted in as not only qualified to lead the state, but also in the spirit of equity to give the zone their fair opportunity to the topmost seat at the state level.

With this sentiment, it will be very difficult for the people of the zone to seek a fresh leg whereas they have an incumbent son who sits on the throne as at the time of the election.

The likes of Ubah of APC and Ozigbo of LP, hail from the same zone as Soludo and may put much pressure to unseat Soludo will make the question of zonal tenure elongation come to play.

If any other person from Anambra South Senatorial District apart from Soludo wins the 2025 governorship election, the issue of whether the person will do a single term to complete the first term of Soludo will be greatly put to the fore.

If it happens, it then means the zone would be doing 12 years instead of eight.

Many people believe that despite the threat from the quarters of Nwoye, the zoning arrangement has knocked him off the ground.

The immediate past Governor Obiano who hails from the same local government as Nwoye had completed eight uninterrupted years as Anambra governor and it will negate the principle of zoning and equity for any person from Anambra North to throw his hat into the ring in 2025.

The APC in the state seems to have developed serious internal fault with so many foundation members of the party who already had either pitched their tents with the opposition or developed cold feet towards the party.

The echoes from the last election which saw the party not fielding any legally accepted candidate despite fielding Senator Andy Uba still persist on the sands of time within the party.

Despite the entrance of Senators Ubah and  Ekwunife, there seems to be more crisis ahead when the soul of the party will be sought for by politicians ahead 2025.

Three major political heavyweights already in the party are lying in wait for the party’s ticket. Senator Andy Uba who flew the party’s flag in the last election got his petition struck out by the courts on the ground that he was never the party’s candidate in the first place.

This may be his turn to fight and lay claims to the party ticket while Ifeanyi Ubah who just joined the party will be jostling for the same APC flag.

Senator Ekwunife from Anambra Central maybe going for the broke when she throws her hat into the ring to contest for the APC flag.

With the conflagration expectedly in the party, APC may end up not having a candidate or at worst, present weak candidate that will be trounced by Soludo.

The likes of the former Minister of Labour and Productivity and former governor of the state, Senator Chris Ngige and George Muoghalu’s silence and inactivities in  Anambra APC politics  look dangerous to the bonding and cohesion in the party.

It has been rumoured that the political romance between Ngige and Soludo in the recent times have left tongues wagging. Should Ngige decide to back Soludo in 2025 as way of protest, the party will be torn apart.

On the other hand, Soludo’s performance index has shown that the Professor Governor is silently in line with his philosophy of developing the state.

Many political analysts believe that Governor Soludo has done well to earn him a second term. They believe he has all it takes to win again so he can consolidate on the gains already achieved.

Whichever way, the pendulum of Anambra governorship election swings, it is as good as won and lost because the people of the state will be looking for two reasons to vote either to perpetuate the memory of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu represented in APGA or show their age long disdain for APC or Labour Party.