Last Saturday’s by-election across 16 federal and state constituencies in 12 states provided the four front-row political parties readying for the November 8 gubernatorial election in Anambra State, the opportunity to test their structural strength and acceptability among the electorate, LEO SOBECHI reports.
It was like a final before the final. The state is headed for a governorship contest on November 8. As such, in no other state than Anambra, did the last Saturday by-election ordered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) attain the status of a mini-war. Of the 16 constituencies, where the makeup poll was held, the exercise took place in two constituencies, one senatorial and state constituency apiece, in the state.
But, at the end of polling, the two vacant seats in contest: One Senatorial, the other state Assembly, went the way of the incumbent political party, APGA. The Senatorial seat, which was within the domain of the strong contenders for the November 8 governorship poll, turned out as a golden opportunity for the governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to gloat and dismiss his challengers.
Soludo told cheering party faithful in Nanka that the result has shown that Anambra is APGA, saying that outside APGA, there is no longer any other party. APC, PDP, LP and ADC are all dead and dried, he stated.
INEC returned APGA’s Emmanuel Nwachukwu (Onodugo) with 90,408 votes as the winner for the senatorial contest, while Barrister Mimi Ifeoma Azikiwe (nee Ikpeazu) was declared the winner of the Onitsha North 1 state constituency poll, beating Mrs Justice Azuka, widow of the slain former lawmaker.
Azuka Okwuosa of APC, who was credited with 19,847 votes, was the first runner-up, while Donald Amangbo of ADC returned 2,889 ballots.
Although the APC went into the by-election as the defending champion, due to the fact that the last occupant, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, crossed over from the Young Progressive Party (YPP), on which platform he won re-election to the Senate, the attempt by the party to retain the seat, as well as enhance APC’s majority in the Red Chamber, ended as an anti-climax.
However, the APC governorship candidate, Hon. Nicholas Ukachukwu, and the state chairman, Basil Ejidike, who addressed a joint press conference, repudiated the process, claiming that the incumbent party employed terror tactics to snatch victory.
While claiming that the results were pre-written, Ukachukwu said only the returning officer knows from where he obtained the results, stressing that most results were still with electoral officers. The governorship contender accused the state security outfit (Agunechemba) of compromising the electoral process, wondering why nobody had been arrested.
“APGA’s actions,” he noted, “revealed fear, in spite of its claims of popularity, and suggested the party avoided a genuine popularity contest. They know Anambra is tired of APGA and their government.”
He added: “They openly carried guns, arrested people, and detained them in their own cells. If it were the APC, they would accuse us of using the police and the army to intimidate them. We will challenge this daylight robbery; the result did not reflect the people’s will. APC’s chances in the November 8 governorship election remain very high.”
In his reaction, the APC chairman, Ejidike, narrated how the Agunenchembe security personnel, “distracted our governorship candidate in Orsumenyi, they held our senatorial candidate hostage in his home.”
Before the battle
For the State Assembly seat, known as Onitsha North 1 state constituency, although the deceased former occupant was elected on Labour Party (LP) platform, APGA felt entitled to it, even as the constituency insists that the seat should be used to assuage the family of the deceased former member of the State House of Assembly, Justice Azuka, who was killed by unknown gunmen believed to be kidnappers. While APC did not field a candidate for the State assembly seat, in deference to the dead lawmaker, whose wife was nominated by ADC, APGA went to the influential Ikpeazu family to field Mimi Ifeoma Ikpeazu.
The APGA candidate’s surname was quickly revised to Azikiwe to mask the fact that the Ikpeazu family had represented the constituency on more than one occasion, a reason the Onitsha community insists on Mrs Justina Amaka Azuka, the ADC candidate for the House of Assembly seat.
Against that background, the governorship candidates of APGA, ADC and APC see Saturday’s by-election as a testing ground to prove their mettle. And, in the emerging clash of these giants, APGA, ADC and APC, the incumbent governor is doing all in his power to ensure that things go the way of APGA so as not to send the wrong signals about the major battle coming up in the state on November 8.
The incumbent governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has been firing on all cylinders. The governor recently alleged that candidates of the federal ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) cannot win elections in the state without rigging. While boasting that he has no challenger for the November 8 gubernatorial contest, the governor disclosed that Anambra voters are waiting for the August 16 by-elections in the state to demonstrate that nkea bu nkeanyi kpom kwem! (This party, APGA, is ours. Period).
But, opposition parties in the state, especially the African Democratic Congress (ADC), are claiming that the governor, out of fear and obvious implication of losing the senatorial contest, decided to do a deal with the powers that be in Abuja in exchange for support for his re-election on November 8.
It would be recalled that the Anambra South Senatorial seat, which is up for contest next Saturday, became vacant after the former occupant, Senator Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah, died in a London hospital on July 26, 2024. Although Ubah secured the seat for a second term on the platform of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), he crossed over to the federal ruling APC late last year, preparatory to contesting the governorship.
But worried that a strong governorship could mar his re-election plans, Governor Soludo was said to have lobbied Chief Emeka Okwuosa to prevail on his younger brother, Sir Azuka Okwuosa, to seek election to the Senate and shelve his governorship aspiration.
Those who are in the know of the schemes disclosed that the governor also reached out to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the former national chairman of APC, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, assuring that APGA would field a weak contestant for the Anambra South Senatorial seat.
But, a chieftain of the APC, Ozocha Sam Osita Oraegbunam, told The Guardian that there was no way APGA could win the Senatorial seat, stressing that no such bargaining was entered into with Governor Soludo.
Oraegbunam’s position seems to have been buoyed by the entrance of the coalition of opposition politicians on the ADC platform. Because no sooner had the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, joined the coalition talks than Donald Amamgbo bulldozed his way and was nominated as the Senatorial candidate of the party.
Amamgbo, who emerged as the senatorial flag bearer by popular affirmation by ADC delegates, was adopted as the sole contestant after other aspirants stepped down for him.
Speaking at the Anyi Bu ofu Social Hall, Mmili Nkwu, Nnewi, Amamgbo said, “We shall storm Anambra South, and when we win, we will go to Abuja and bring your share of democracy dividends and good governance. I want to assure you that I will win. I urged the party faithful to go to their various polling booths with their families and loved ones and vote for the ADC during the senatorial by-election.”
Even the ADC state chairman, Patrick Obianyo, said the way other aspirants stepped down for Amamgbo shows that ADC has come a long way, as the entire country will witness a new era.
“Nigeria as a country has gone into an economic quagmire, and this prompted the formation of the ADC party by the people who have an interest in the country’s growth. ADC would salvage this country as a party that the people should be proud of.
“This is the first time the Anambra South district is testing a new candidate who has integrity to fly the ADC Party flag. We are confident that we shall win,” Obianyo declared.
However, addressing a rally at Ekwulobia Urban Stadium, Governor Soludo maintained that “we don’t know anyone else who is contesting, but we will be contesting as if we are the underdogs to unknown opponents.
“But some of them that we hear are contesting are contesting for appointments. You can’t even win one ward without rigging, and you are going around collecting money from people.”
Opposition elements in the state insist that the incumbent governor was sustaining his attacks on the APC and its gubernatorial contender, Hon. Nicholas Ukachukwu, to mask the reality of the deal with some national leaders of the ruling party.
It was alleged that, as part of the deal to field a less competitive contender, the governor instigated APGA delegates to overlook energetic Ebuka Onunkwo and nominate less fancied Emmanuel Nwachukwu (Onodugo)
But APGA faithful in the state said that consideration of PVC holdings tipped the balance in favour of Nwachukwu, arguing that Onunkwo hails from the Ukpor area, which comes under the shadow of the governorship candidate, Ukachukwu.
In a statement, APGA had accused Ukachukwu of being inclined towards violence, recalling how the APC governorship standard-bearer deployed strong-arm tactics against Valentine Ozigbo and JohnBosco Onunkwo during the April 5 governorship primary of the party.
According to the National Coordinator, APGA Media Warriors Forum, Chinedu Obigwe, “Ukachukwu hijacked the APC ticket by manipulating the APC primary, judging by the allegations from those that contested against him.
There is every possibility that he would deploy the same tactics in subsequent elections.”
Rebutting APGA’s claims, the APC said that August 16 will show who controls the majority of public support in Anambra State, noting that the party cannot afford to lose a seat made vacant by the death of a former APC Senator.
Speaking at a rally in Nnewi, where he presented the Senatorial contender, Sir Azuka Okwuosa, the APC governorship candidate said security of life and property was paramount in his party’s search for the mandate of the people.
Ukachukwu noted that the failure of the incumbent party and its governor to deliver on critical aspirations of the citizens makes it inevitable that Okwuosa and APC will secure victory in the Anambra South Senatorial by-election scheduled for Saturday.
He said that APC remains committed to retaining the vacant Anambra South Senatorial seat. Ukachukwu assured that Okwuosa would continue from where Senator Ubah stopped to cater for the welfare of the zone and its people.
While presenting the party’s candidate for the Anambra South Senatorial District Poll slated to hold on August 16th, Sir Azuka Okwuosa, Ukachukwu, reiterated the commitment of the party to retain the vacant seat left by Senator Ifeanyi Uba.
He enjoined voters in Aguata, Ekwusigo, Ihiala, Nnewi North, Nnewi South, Orumba North and Orumba South Local Government Areas to troop out to vote for APC’s Azuka Okwuosa, stressing, “Voting for APC senator and governor will instantly connect the state to the national political grid for massive developmental benefits.”
On his part, the APC Senatorial candidate, Azuka Okwuosa, disclosed that, if elected to the Senate, his legislative interest would range from empowering youth with skills, job opportunities and attracting more federal projects to the district.
He pledged to provide effective representation to uplift their standard of living, even as a former governorship candidate of Action Alliance (AA) in the 2021 gubernatorial poll, Ben Etiaba, endorsed Okwuosa as “a man of uncommon political insight and the ideal person to represent the zone at the nation’s upper legislative chamber.”
