By Izunna Okafor, Awka
Ahead of the November 8 governorship election in Anambra State, market women in the state have declared their total support for the incumbent Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, declaring that his works and achievements in his first term have already won the election for him.
The women made the declaration on Wednesday when a frontline support group, the Anambra Patriots for Soludo (APS), officially flagged off its grassroots mobilization campaign in Awka, the state capital.
Held behind the old Government House at the Permanent Site Market, Ukwuorji, the flag-off event witnessed a massive turnout of traders and grassroots supporters who sang solidarity songs and chanted pro-Soludo slogans, affirming their loyalty to the Solution Agenda.
The event, which also featured the distribution of custom-designed campaign aprons with zipper pouches, marked a strategic launch of the APS’s mobilization drive for one million votes for governor Soludo, and aligns with the official opening of the campaign window as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Addressing the crowd, the Convener of the group and Managing Director of the Anambra State Bureau of Public Procurement, Arc. Okey Ezeobi, said the campaign was part of a broader “Rebrand Anambra with Soludo” initiative aimed at strengthening grassroots political consciousness and celebrating the Governor’s transformational leadership.
According to him, Governor Soludo has redefined governance and development in Anambra with visible impacts across security, infrastructure, urban renewal, rural development, digital governance, and general economic growth.
“Soludo is a jinx breaker. He is turning Anambra into a destination where people come to live, work and invest,” Arc. Ezeobi said, adding that the group is targeting over one million votes for the Governor across the 21 local government areas of the state.
He hailed the Governor’s strategic approach to security, especially the deployment of the recently-launched Agụnechemba Security Outfit and collaboration with federal security agencies, which he said has significantly restored peace and business confidence in the state, and enabling the traders to go about their daily activities without fear. He also noted that the massive road infrastructure going on in different parts of the state has also helped in facilitating movement of goods and services and has also benefitted the Anambra traders in significant ways.
Aside free education, free antenatal and free deliveries, which have benefited many households in one way or the other, Architect Ezeobi further highlighted some other areas and sectors the Soludo Administration has beamed his developmental torchlight across the state, further assuring the people that more and greater dividends of democracy lie ahead, hence the need to re-elect the Governor for a sustained developmental stride.
On his own part, the Chairman of the APS, Chief Ejiamatu Enekwechi, said the choice of market women as the campaign’s first contact point was intentional, noting that they remain the largest voting bloc in Nigeria’s electoral demography.
“Women cast the highest number of votes in this country. That’s why we are reaching them first. These aprons are not just for campaign visibility; they are also tools to support their business,” he said, stressing that every market trader in Anambra will eventually receive one.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of the Anambra Medical Oxygen Production Plant and a member of the support group, Mrs. Nwamaka Arinze, commended the Governor for his investment in infrastructure and human capital. She recalled how difficult it was for farmers to access the markets before Soludo’s administration rehabilitated the roads.
“Today, they have access. Soludo has built roads and even a fun city for leisure. He is turning Anambra into a model state,” she said, while also urging traders to adopt better sanitation practices to protect government facilities.
In their separate reactions, some of the market women, including Mrs. Maria Rapuruchukwu, Mrs. Ifeoma Ofodile, Mrs. Evelyn Onyema, and Miss Chikodili Igwenagu, while expressing their excitement to APS for the gesture, also lauded Governor Soludo for reconstructing the dilapidated road to the market. They affirmed their strong support for the Governor’s re-election, declaring that he has already won the election, judging by his transformational leadership style and the developmental strides so far recorded in his first in office.
This reporter, Izunna Okafor, gathered that the event marked the beginning of a series of grassroots engagements planned by APS to galvanize broad-based voter support for Governor Soludo’s second term bid.
