Fifteen candidates of the same number of political parties are challenging Governor Chukwuma Soludo, who is seeking a second term in office, as the electorate in the state make their decision today (Saturday).
A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Soludo is flying the banner of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and is the candidate to beat in the election.
The old Anambra State was created out of the East Central State on 3 February 1976, but on 27 August 1991, Enugu State was carved out of it. Since then, the new Anambra State has produced
Since then, the state had been governed by Chief Chinwoke Mbadinuju of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Chris Ngige (PDP), Mr. Peter Obi, Peter Obi (APGA), Nigeria’s only female governor Dame Virginia Etiaba (APGA), Chief Willie Obiano (APGA) and now Soludo.
APGA has had its hold on the state 2003, and is highly favour to continue on that stride through this election.
Soludo’s main challengers in the election include Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu of the the All Progressives Congress, Dr. George Moughalu of the Labour Party, African Democratic Congress’ John Nwosu; and Sir Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party.
In March 2006, Anambra became a state where off-cycle elections would be conducted due to the Appeal Court’s judgement, which sacked the then governor, Ngige, replacing him with Obi, a few years after the 2003 general elections. This development distorted the electoral timetable, thus making the state’s governorship poll to be held on a different date, separate from the general election.
The Nigerian Police Force has assured of adequate security with the deployment of 45,000 security personnel.
The Commissioner of Police in charge of the state Governorship Election, Abayomi Shogunle hosted heads of all security agencies in the state in a strategic security meeting aimed at harmonising and strengthening the already established operational structures for the governorship election.
He reiterated the collective commitment of the security agencies towards ensuring a peaceful, credible, and violence-free election, emphasising the need for coordination and synergy, real-time intelligence sharing, joint patrols, and professional conduct of personnel before, during, and after the election.
The tone for the election is set as political parties and their candidates signed a peace accord on Monday, pledging to uphold non-violence and to respect the outcome of the poll.
The pact, organised by the Kukah Centre under the auspices of the National Peace Committee, co-chaired by former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd.), and Bishop Matthew Kukah, was signed at the International Convention Centre, Awka, the state capital.
The event was also attended by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission Prof. Joash Amupitan, as well as some representatives of the commission, security agencies, traditional rulers and civil society groups.
Amupitan, who will be conducting his first election after assuming office on 23 October, reaffirmed the commission’s readiness to deliver a credible, transparent, and peaceful election, stressing that over 2.8million registered voters are expected to participate in the exercise.
He also said about 63.9% Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) had collected, adding: ‘Our responsibility is to the people of this nation. We are fully prepared to deliver an election that is fair, credible, and reflective of the people’s will’.
Amupitan said INEC had addressed the perennial challenge of logistics, adding that about 24,000 ad hoc staff of all categories would be deployed in 5,718 polling units during the poll, with the assurance that election materials would arrive at polling units by 7 am, while voting would commence by 8:30 am without delay.
Against the backdrop of rising tensions, there have been worry over potential violence, voter apathy and vote-buying. Political analysts, stakeholders and civil society groups have expressed concerns over various issues that could impact the credibility and inclusivity of the governorship election.
Among these concerns are voter apathy, with the 2021 governorship election recording a historic low of 10.2% participation. For instance, in 2021, Anambra had 2.7million registered voters.
Yet, less than 200,000 of that number decided that election, where the incumbent, Soludo, won the 21 Local Government Areas. This figure, calculated after adding the total votes gotten by all the political parties in that election, showed a demonstration of low voter turnoutand this has continued to raise significant concern among political watchers.
