By Jude Atupulazi
At long last the populace in Anambra State can now breathe. It is all over. I mean the 2025 Anambra State Governorship Election. The war of words, the noise, the banter, everything, has now come to an end and we, the common citizens, can now go about our business in peace. In this week’s write up, I have decided to take a cursory look at the major developments.
Soludo, a victory foreseen
Even before the Candidates of other parties emerged, it was already a given that the incumbent Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, would retain his seat. This is because, in this part of the world, and indeed elsewhere, it will take a horrendous performance by an incumbent not to return for a second term. Here, such was the case in 2003 when then Gov Chinwoke Mbadinuju, owing to his terrible performance, failed to even get his party’s ticket for a second term.
His switch to then AD also yielded no fruit as he lost miserably in the election won by Peter Obi of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, but whose mandate was temporarily stolen by godfathers in the People Democratic Party, PDP, before Obi fought gallantly to retrieve his mandate from the courts. Since then, all incumbent Governors had won and it even kept getting easier by the day.
The latest Guber Election has been won by Soludo and it was therefore no surprise. Many had seen his victory coming, chiefly because he had done well and also was contesting as an incumbent with all the paraphernalia of office at his disposal to use to his advantage.
The only surprise was that Soludo’s party had to share money like some others during the election. It was safe to say that he would have still won without spending a dime. But perhaps, he wanted to make assurance doubly sure. Today, he is set to be in the saddle for another four years. Congratulations to him.
Expectations from Soludo in next four years
Following his victory in the recently concluded Guber Poll, Anambra Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, will remain in office for another four years. This is even when his first tenure is yet to expire (it expires on March 17, 2026). What then are we expecting from him in the next four years?
Well, I’ve always believed that Soludo would do well because of one thing: his pride. Proud people never want to fail in any endeavour because they wouldn’t want their name to be tainted. Soludo is proud and his pride is even seen by some people as bordering on arrogance. Soludo’s people will always be quick to defend this, but then, it is this trait of his that will galvanize him into doing well in order not to be laughed at.
In his first tenure that is winding up, he has done some things that bespeak of his quality and the major area is road construction. His road projects are daring as some of them involve a lot of money and demolition of people’s homes and offices, as well as institutions. The Amawbia-Nise-Agulu-Ekwulobia road project is an ambitious one and this is also being replicated in other places like the Agulu-Neni-Nnobi-Nnewi road.
This has taken a great toll on people’s homes and businesses but Soludo isn’t listening to anyone’s lamentations as he believes it is for the common good. These roads, when completed, are bound to change the aesthetics of the state and they look solid too.
Therefore I expect Soludo to up the ante and deliver more. I am not in any doubt about this because he seems driven by an unstoppable desire to be called the best Governor. This is a good kind of challenge to be adopted by anyone, even though it is clear that any Governor that does well will make the job easier for their successor who will not have to start from scratch.
Soludo is benefitting from this. Imagine if he were starting from where Mbadinuju stopped; would his priority, for instance, have been building the fun city? Obviously not, because he would have had to start from almost scratch. Thus, Soludo is building on what those before him had done (Ngige, Obi, Obiano) and ought to do better, especially given his pedigree. It is my conviction that Soludo will leave a huge legacy.
Also expect Soludo to continue condoning some of the things for which people have been attacking him. Chief of them is the issue of touts who seem to be having the blessing of the government in some of their nefarious acts. Enter, the people called Ndi Aka Odo. These are thugs wearing official uniforms to perpetrate violent acts.
They carry pestles (aka odo) with them which they freely use to maim people perceived to have run foul of the regulations. Owing to their actions, some people have had their legs, knees, ankles and hands broken, while one person died as a result. Soludo has so far closed his ears to calls for him to at least disarm them if not outrightly proscribing them.
Also we should not expect to see less taxation by the Soludo regime. He has somehow failed to collaborate with donor agencies to benefit from their counterpart funding as was the case during the time of Peter Obi. Soludo’s failure to do this is mainly responsible for the huge tax regime imposed by his government on the people. This is one area many will like him to address so that the people doing business in the state can breathe.
The results of the Guber Poll and implications on Obi’s expected 2027 Presidential bid
I listened to the analysis of one election observer on an Arise TV programme on the morning after the election when he was asked the implication of Soludo winning in Peter Obi’s polling unit. The man saw it as a sign of that the collaboration between Soludo and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was beginning to bear fruit, while also believing that Obi was losing popularity.
Well, nothing could be farther from the truth. The man obviously held that view because he was not on ground here and did not understand the politics of the state. Here, the people have since learnt to make distinctions between Guber Elections and Presidential Elections. In the Guber, many will always vote for APGA, regardless of the Candidate, while in the Presidential, they will go for Obi.
It happened under Obiano and so it has happened under Soludo. The fact is that Obi was not in the ballot for the Guber Poll and it was also clear that none of the Candidates could win. So why waste votes? They thus settled for Soludo just as they had settled for Obiano.
But come 2027, as long as Obi will contest, no force can stop the people of the Southeast from voting for him. Just as they did not vote for Obi’s party because Obi was not on the ballot in the recent election, they will not vote for Soludo’s party because they will see it as Obi’s show. And I dare say that at least 80% of those who voted for Soludo will vote for Obi in 2027.
If Obi could pull such a crowd in 2023 and even win the election before he was robbed, why can’t he do so again now that he has learnt from past experience and made new alignments? In 2023, Obi won with a landslide in all the Southeast states despite their governors working against him.
Because of him, his party, the Labour Party, won state and national assembly seats, not just in Anambra, but across the country. That was massive. This shows the different scenarios and dynamics involved in both elections (Guber and Presidential). Everybody here knows this, even though some will pretend not to know.
Thus, even if Soludo and other Southeast Governors use trumpets to enter the various markets to campaign against Obi, he will still sweep Southeast votes, unless, of course, it is rigged.
Soludo’s election victory speech
I was impressed with Soludo’s speech to the people of Anambra State shortly after being announced the winner of the November 8 Election in Anambra State. He appeared sober and gone was his usual cockiness. In acknowledging and thanking the people of the state for voting for him to complete his tenure, he said Anambra was known for political banter after which they would all meet at events and share jokes. He also extended his hand of fellowship to his opponents and commended them for giving their best in the campaigns.
This is as it should be. I saw a different Soludo; not the one that would gloat for ‘’beating them’’ and asking them to go back to school or whatever. Whoever gave him this advice did well. Those who don’t like Soludo do so because of his tendency of picking unnecessary fights with opponents. His speech was very mature and if he continues like this, he will win over many people. May it continue.
