The National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Sly Ezeokenwa, in this interview with LEO SOBECHI, appraised the August 16 by-elections in Anambra and Edo states. He defended Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s hobnobbing with Mr President, saying they both share ‘progressive’ values.

There have been controversies over the August 16 by-election and its outcomes, especially for Anambra State, where a governorship election is scheduled for November 8. What can you say about the exercise and its implications on INEC’s preparedness for the governorship poll?
As you are aware, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted the 2025 by-elections in 16 constituencies across 13 states on August 16, 2025, in what has been adjudged as a watershed in the quest for transparent and credible elections in our country’s history, as aptly captured by both local and international observers.

The by-elections covered two senatorial districts in Anambra and Edo States, five federal constituencies in Edo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Ogun, and Oyo States, and nine state constituencies in Adamawa, Anambra, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Niger, Taraba, and Zamfara.

The successful conduct of the elections once again marked INEC as an important pillar of our democracy and further demonstrated the institution’s commitment to upholding democratic principles and the will of the Nigerian people. The exercise signalled a significant milestone in INEC’s journey towards entrenching true democratic change in our country and reaffirmed its resolve to ensure that the voices of Nigerians are heard through credible elections.

APGA wishes to express its profound appreciation to INEC under its current leadership and staff for their dedication and efforts in conducting the recent by-elections. But, while APGA has been very gracious and magnanimous in our victory, the people of Anambra will not tolerate blackmail or unnecessary disturbances from those whose interest in politics seems driven by a desire to disrupt the transformation underway in our state.

We, in APGA, commend INEC. We commend our security agencies. We commend the accredited observers. You all stood firm against intimidation, inducement, and violence. But commendation is not enough. The scars of what transpired must not be ignored. Hostage-taking, bribery, death threats, assaults, and so on. These are not minor infractions; they are direct attacks on the very foundation of our democracy. And they must attract the full weight of the law.

Some think that Governor Soludo’s visit to President Bola Tinubu was to solicit support in the November 8 gubernatorial poll. Is that the true interpretation of that meeting?
The President and, of course, the Governor have never hidden their admiration for each other, and Mr President has continuously alluded to the friendship that has existed between him and Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo for over two decades. It is not something you can take away or shy away from. They are friends. And within the context of their friendship, I cannot come in-between the discussions that they had, especially when those discussions are private.

Again, the Governor of Anambra State has not hidden his call for progressives to align and work together. And this call, for me, is ideologically based. We cannot continue to have the proliferation of political parties professing similar ideologies when these parties can actually come together in some sort of strong partnership or loose coalition, when the goal is to advance progressive ideals or progressivism, which we profess.

APGA, as a political party, is the foremost progressive party in Nigeria. From 1999 to date, under the present dispensation, we were the first to be registered with the word progressive. And, of course, this was before the emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Young Progressives Party (YPP), and all other parties that later adopted progressive in their names. And Mr Governor believes that the mainstay or the mainstream of every political party must be the ideology that the party professes.

If you look at the manifestos of most political parties, you will see that they are virtually the same, whether left, centre-left, or centre-right. It’s that simple. And when you see political parties that are ideologically aligned, there is no reason why they cannot come together, as I said earlier, in the form of either a loose partnership or a strong bond. The most important thing is to continue to engender democratic ideals all over the country.

Again, the Governor of Anambra State has not hidden his admiration for the courage Mr President has demonstrated in initiating very necessary reforms of the economy, especially from day one, when he removed fuel subsidy, as well as other critical reforms. And so these and many more issues are, for me, pivotal in discussing the relationship between our party and the President’s party.

To that extent, we believe and profess that, since we uphold progressivism, progressives ought to work together, and we are really working towards that. We have no apologies whatsoever. The most important thing is that we are interested in the people of Nigeria, and that is the paramount interest as far as APGA is concerned.

Our mantra is leaving no one behind. And if we see that Mr President’s economic policies are aligned or geared towards our progressive ideals of leaving no one behind, then we have no reason not to support the President.

Personally, I am one of those who have said severally that I am interested in a Nigeria that works. I want President Tinubu to succeed. I am not one of those who engage in needless criticism. I engage in constructive criticism. If there are areas where I believe the President is not doing well, it is my job as a progressive to point them out. Because if the President succeeds, Nigeria works, and we all succeed. We want a better Nigeria. It’s that simple.

Would APGA support President Tinubu’s re-election in 2027?
About supporting Mr President’s second term, if you ask me, I think you’re putting the cart before the horse. INEC has yet to release a timetable for the 2027 General Election.

Mr President has not told you that he’s running for that election. And so, it will be tantamount to putting the cart before the horse for us to be talking about that.

Mr Governor may believe that, given the bold reforms the President has already initiated, he, on a personal level and as leader of the party, feels that if Nigeria continues in that trajectory, we are headed in the right direction.

Of course, when the time comes, the national executive committee of the party will look at all the factors and decide. It is not something I can decide here, or Mr Governor, as National Leader, can unilaterally decide. But I can tell you that progressives are working together, and we are really, really working together.

Is APGA aligning with the policies of President Tinubu?
Let me make this strong point, and in doing so, I must go down memory lane. APGA, as a political party, has more often than not been strategically aligned with the centre. There are no apologies about that. And this alignment did not start with my administration.

The first alignment was when Mr. Peter Obi was Governor of Anambra State and National Leader of the party. At that time, in 2011, APGA did not field a presidential candidate. APGA supported then-President Goodluck Jonathan. That is a fact.

In 2015, APGA again did not field a candidate and supported President Goodluck Jonathan’s second-term bid. The records are there.

So, when some journalists or media personnel raise these issues, it seems as though what we are doing now is novel. But in truth, it is more like a consistent policy of the party.

It was only in 2019 and 2023 that the party fielded presidential candidates. And, of course, the performance of those candidates is there for all to see. In my opinion, it is not something the party can proudly showcase.

For a party that wants to be the third-largest political party in Nigeria, such performances do not align with our shared vision. We cannot just field candidates for the sake of it.

That’s why I mentioned looking towards shared partnerships or loose coalitions with political parties that share the same progressive ideals as APGA. That is the way to go, rather than a proliferation of candidates who end up with less than a million votes.

Most importantly, in furtherance of these ideals that progressives are working together, Mr President has appointed two APGA members to his cabinet. Even when we aligned with President Jonathan in 2011 and 2015, APGA did not get such recognition. That is a fact.

For the first time in our nation’s history, APGA has produced a minister. The wife of our foremost spiritual leader and a member of the Board of Trustees of APGA, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, is currently Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

Likewise, the current MD/CEO of the Southeast Development Commission, Mr Mark Okoye, who had served in the Anambra State Government as MD of the Anambra State Investment and Promotion Agency, was appointed by President Tinubu as the pioneer MD/CEO of the Southeast Development Commission.

So, Mr President has shown good faith to APGA in furtherance of the progressive ideals that we profess that progressives are working together.

Therefore, APGA firmly supports Mr President’s economic reforms and administration in Nigeria. We make no apologies for that.

What will be APGA’s position if Mr President announces his second-term ambition?
When Mr President announces his second-term bid, we will go back to the drawing board and then decide whether to go with him or support another candidate. All options are still possible.

But for now, we are firmly in support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. We believe he is doing well, we believe he is headed in the right direction, and we will give him our full support.

You’ve pointed to the relationship between your Governor and the President. Can you confirm that the President has pledged to support him (Soludo) in the November 8 election?
My confirmation of Mr President’s support for Mr Governor—what difference will it make? I don’t work for Mr President. So, if I confirm that the President is supporting the Governor, does it mean the President is actually supporting him?

If you need such confirmation, you should approach the appropriate quarters. I’m not a spokesperson for Mr President. I’m not a cabinet member. I’m the National Chairman of APGA.

But the fact remains that Mr President has made an important point. And what is that? When he came to Anambra State for the campaign, he said that Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo is one of those he will work closely with to bring prosperity to Nigeria. He called him a thinker. He called him a reformer. And he called him a progressive.

He said together they would work to bring prosperity, not just to Nigeria, but to the people of Anambra. And he repeated that statement again during his state visit to Anambra in May this year. I don’t think there is any other endorsement you need beyond that.