By Ike Ume-Atuana
I don’t want to presume on the victory of Governor Chukwu Charles Soludo on Saturday November 8, 2025, when Anambra goes to the poll for her governorship election. It may be accounted for me as arrogance. But members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and others sympathetic to the government of Soludo have been singing “canticles” of joy as their voice gave them utterances.
It would seem the only thing standing against Soludo’s reelection is time. By nightfall on November 8, when the curtain is drawn on the contest, the ambitious wing of the opposition with which he hopes to fly into the Light House would have been successfully clipped, compelling either an honest self-appraisal or another round of delusion in the courts. But whatever the case, it is important to advise against further waste as Anambra politics is peculiar and does not hesitate to winnow chaffs from the grains.
It may not be a popular tale on the streets of Anambra, but the state is dynamic in composition yet conservative when it comes to electing her leaders. She hardly entrusts her destiny in the hands of unexamined leadership. What she has not done since the civilian rule is to encourage upstarts to govern her. She has a way of turning them out of doors. It happened during the time of Raymond Okechukwu Odunze. It was repeated in the time of Emmanuel Andy Ubah. Neither was allowed the chance to lead. The first was outrightly stopped while the second was yanked off immediately after emerging in error. In both cases, the state proved that she does not abide the emergence of parvenus as leaders. She naturally rejects, but if forced to acquiesce, quickly yanks them off as soon as they emerge.
So far nothing has changed since the last time to suggest she will deny herself. Perhaps only the opposition itself and a few others with their heads in the clouds are the only ones not paying attention as the signs are there. In a contest (possibly a swimming contest) a swimmer faced with execution by drowning has no choice but to clutch on straws. But a thoughtful swimmer would be smart enough to admit to his strength and avoid certain death. It appears curious that the opposition is still deluded about winning the election every community in Anambra has proved through funding and sundry other supports that they are pulling for Soludo to win.
I have observed with keen interest the strength of the contestants in relation to Governor Soludo. None of them without exception has demonstrated enough gravitas to prove they are in the contest to win. Some are in it to be relevant for tomorrow while others are there to scheme for financial support and possible appointment in government. It may not have made a lot of sense when the Governor said months earlier that he was not contesting the governorship with anybody. Events have proved his statement true and exposed the opposition as incapable of throwing any punch that will destabilize his victory march. Apart from the Governor’s provenance which compares with none of the challengers, his track record of performance makes his reelection a cakewalk. It will take an extension of the election date to convince ndi Anambra that their share APGA and Soludo’s votes with another. How will the people accept that their “would-be governor” does not know the difference between baby factory and manufacturing concerns? The state that produced Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chinua Achebe, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Keneth Dike, Pius Okigbo, Emeka Anyaoku, Chimamanda Adichie, among others will blush eternally if a Sabo Bakin Zuwo is replicated in Anambra. It does not matter that few hangers-on want everybody to gloss over the red flag. It foretells an emergency that will take a lot of tolls on both the time and resources of the state.
As weeks are reduced to days, and days into hours, the state-wide demonstration of support for Governor Soludo shows the people are not ready to gamble on the future of the state. They don’t want to experiment with the election, and in the course of doing that, be led like lemming by few lucre-seeking-toadies into an unthinking political death.
It does not belabour any keen political observer to know that Governor Soludo will be returned to complete the good work he started almost four years ago. What may not be easily predictable is the margin of victory against his closest rival.
Without sounding immodest, the self-reinforcing victory of APGA – a party nurtured in inclusiveness will play an overarching role in ensuring victory for a Governor who has not performed any less in developing ndi Anambra and the state. Added to this is the firm belief in the zoning arrangement which has brought not just peace, but also development to the far ends of the state. A trip around the state will not only show efforts of Soludo’s focused administration, but will confirm him as the most suited to continue for the next four years.
As a matter of fact, no sector of the state economy has not received the attention of the Soludo government. From infrastructure to education, health, agriculture to human capital development none was spared the touch of the Soludo solution. If the reality of the Governor’s victory on Saturday has not sunk in the consciousness of the opposition, it means they are either not perceptive enough or are living in denial. Unfortunately, neither will help their cause as the Governor’s victory has been signed and sealed.
*Ume-Atuana, a political affairs commentator*
*writes from Awka*
