By Jude Atupulazi
Frontline governorship candidates, including Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu and Sir Paul Chukwuma, are jostling to have a share of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah’s political structure to aid their victory in the November 8, 2025 Election in Anambra State, reports Ikeugonna Eleke.
Before his death in July last year, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah had put together a big political structure that cut across all segments of society. This did not come without years of hard work by the Nnewi born late politician. Ubah spent his time, energy and resources to form a political machinery that grew to become one of the most formidable in the state.
His political structure became so reliable that he didn’t need to contest an election under a known political party before he could win. This was seen in the last two elections he participated in, before his death, where he contested under little known Young Progressives Party (YPP), and back to back, he won the election to Senate, beating formidable candidates of other well established parties.
He knew that to win an election, one needed the support of the people who formed the voting strength, and also the backing of men of means, and the power of the media, for one to remain visible, as well as the backing of security officials. All these Ubah had in abundance as he created and formed many groups, and chose some of the best hands to man them, with the results very visible.
In his lifetime, Ubah was known to have the highest number of support groups. They included Ubah Nation Media taking care of his media visibility; Afaigbonefuna, to mobilize his Igbo interest; Ifeanyi Ubah Solidarity Movement, to galvanize support among the masses; Senator Ifeanyi Ubah Women, to champion the cause of women and woo them into the group; Ifeanyi Ubah Foundation to take care of the downtrodden; door to door campaign team for vote canvassing; Ikemba Women Initiative; Olilanya Ndi Anambra Team; Ikemba Front among others, which formed all metamorphosed into what known is known as Ifeanyi Ubah Political Family.
Ubah also controlled a group of friends, all known to be young Anambra billionaires, who lived all across the world with the name Anambra Progressives. In the area of security, Ubah set up and equipped a security outfit operating in his Nnewi Area, which he partly prepared too for his governorship contest. All these are political machineries which Ubah set up and oiled with his funds until his death last year.
At his death, and with the governorship election just seven months away, politicians jostling for the governorship seat have found Ubah’s political structure attractive, and have been wooing the various heads of the groups which championed the victory of the late senator.
The trio of Prof Chukwuma Soludo, candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Sir Paul Chukwuma, candidate of Young Progressives Party (YPP) and Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) are in the forefront of the jostle to inherit Ifeanyi Ubah’s political structures. Coincidentally, all three candidates belong to progressive parties, or better still, political parties that have progressives attached to their names.
Soludo: Recently, some political structures of the late Ubah collapsed into the APGA to support Governor Chukwuma Soludo, in a massive rally organized by some heads of the group called Ifeanyi Political family, the groups led by Kamen Ogbonna, former media aide of Ubah, met at the International Convention Centre in Awka. During the rally, Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, welcomed throngs of supporters of the late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah from APC into APGA.
The supporters who came from various support groups and who were working for the late Senator, said they were inspired to join APGA to work for the re-election of Governor Soludo because they knew that, like Ubah, Soludo had the well-being of Anambra State at heart.
Soludo, while welcoming them, said it was unfortunate that Ubah passed on at a very young age, insisting that he had a conversation with him shortly before his death, in which they had a plan for the senator to work for his re-election. He said he would look for a way to immortalize the deceased.
Soludo said: ‘I want to welcome you people into the big tent of the APGA. I want to welcome all of you back into the APGA fold. I welcome you to APGA, this is where you belong.
This is the place where every Anambra person should belong, because the ideology of APGA is in sync with what Anambra stands for. We are welcoming you with open arms, and I want to tell you that in APGA, we are all equal as far as membership is concerned, not minding how many years you have been in the party.
‘My journey with Ifeanyi Ubah is personal and a very long one. Our relationship dates back to when I was Governor of CBN. He came into APGA after contesting for Governor on the platform of Labour Party in 2013. In 2019 he contested for the ticket of APGA for Governor, but he was disqualified. I want to apologize to him posthumously that he would have won the primary of APGA landslide, but he was unjustly disqualified.
‘I suffered the same fate in 2013. APGA came to me in 2012 to ask me to run for Governor on their platform and I told them I would think about it. In 2013, I went to them and told them I was now ready for the contest, but they disqualified me. A former CBN Governor, a Governorship Candidate of PDP in 2010, was disqualified all of a sudden. But I think it happened for good.
Today, I’m a Governor of the same party and the leader of the same political party that disqualified me. Same way, in 2019, Ubah was poised for the guber contest to pave way for themselves, and he left for YPP. I know many of you here left with him and went to YPP because of that incident.
‘He used the YPP and won the Senate landslide and became a Senator. We used to throw banter about him coming back to APGA and he would always say it is something that must be well arranged. If Ubah was alive, perhaps, he would have been the one to organise a massive rally for me, as you people are doing today. Let me tell you a story, before Ifeanyi Ubah’s death, we met at a function here in this hall and he sat by me.
‘I told him jokingly that I had seen he planned to contest for Governor, but that we would humiliate him. He laughed and told me he had spoken to the leader of his party (APC), and he knew it would be difficult for him to remove me. He said he would tell Sir Emeka Offor to convene a meeting between me and him, let’s see how he could work for me.
‘Emeka Offor confirmed to me that Ubah told him the same thing, but it is unfortunate that before we could meet, he died. That is why I said perhaps he would have worked for me in the election if he was alive. Ifeanyi Ubah was a very generous man who lived his short but purposeful life of just 52 years for all.
I remember the Okada riders who he used to open up his filling station for them to take fuel free of charge. We will ensure we immortalize him, even if it is by naming a street after him. But we will do better to find a monument to name after him,’ Soludo said.
The leader of the defecting members of the Ifeanyi Ubah Support Groups from APC, Hon Chuks Kamen Ogbonna, in his speech urged APGA members to accept them as part of them, as they were coming into the party to help build Anambra and support the re-election of Governor Chukwuma Soludo.
He said: ‘I speak today not just as Kamen Chuks Ogbonna, but as a vessel of a legacy—the legacy of Senator Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, a giant whose footprints remain indelible in the sands of Anambra’s history. With me, I bring the dynamic Ubah Political Family, a formidable army of believers in progress, who today lay down the banner of opposition to embrace the banner of partnership under the great umbrella of APGA. Mr. Solution Governor, you solved the puzzle surrounding insecurity in the Southeast by going after the fake native doctors.
Today, other states in the Southeast are following your example by embarking on the registration of genuine traditional medicine practitioners in order to identify and prosecute the fake ones.’
Ukachukwu: At a time when some groups that were loyal to the late Senator were defecting to APGA, some of the groups also loyal to Ubah were already pledging support for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu.
The groups, led by a faction of Ikemba Front, adopted Ukachukwu as their candidate. They countered the adoption of Soludo by other splinter groups from the family, insisting that if Ubah were alive, he would have been more amenable supporting Ukachukwu or an APC candidate than Soludo who he spent his life criticizing.
One of those who claimed to be an apostle of Ifeanyi Ubah, Justin Okonkwo, criticized Kamen Ogbonna for railroading Ubah’s structure to Soludo’s Camp. He said: ‘This is to notify the spirits, mortals, immortals and all other truly conscientious members of the late ifeanyi Ubah Political Family that we have not declared support for Gov. Soludo nor joined APGA by any stretch.
‘As grounded Igbo men and conscientious students of the Ifeanyi Ubah political school of thought, we are super conscious of the obligation of mourning a master, a father, mentor and a leader in Igbo culture. We understand his core intellectual base, the political legacy he built and what he stood for until his sudden, shocking and untimely death. Ifeanyi Ubah, for us is still alive and by our deep convictions is still in this race for Anambra election, 2025, albeit posthumously. We therefore refuse to dishonour his memory and recuse from any political dry cleaning or contracting that seeks for one thing alone – Launder his good name!
‘This name is now a meal ticket and how some of the family members choose to use it is totally a free choice but we, the core Intellectual Board Room and Intelligentsia, shall hold forth and mourn the master in silence and deep reflection! This meal ticket of Ifeanyi Ubah Political Family is completely not for of us! We wish to reiterate that in pursuant of this creed, we remain card carrying members of the APC.’
Paul Chukwuma: Following the controversy that trailed the APC Primary Election, three aspirants, namely; Sir Paul Chukwuma, Chuma Umeorji and Prof Obiora Okonkwo, had withdrawn from the contest, citing irregularities. As for Chukwuma, after his withdrawal, he moved into YPP where he picked the ticket of the party.
YPP was a party built by Ubah during his lifetime, and considering that Chukwuma and Ubah were the only contestants for the ticket of APC while he was alive, many admirers of Ubah had quickly moved immediately to Chukwuma’s camp on the demise of the Senator. Many have even stated that Chukwuma shares certain characteristics with Ubah, which makes him very likeable by lovers of Ifeanyi Ubah.
Also, Mr Tony Okafor, a journalist, wrote about Chukwuma’s similarities with Ubah, saying: ‘Both Ifeanyi Ubah and Paul Chukwuma have demonstrated a commitment to improving the lives of Ndi Anambra through charitable initiatives, showcasing their dedication to public service. While Ifeanyi Ubah, a former Senator for Anambra South Senatorial District who passed away in July last year, was renowned for his generosity and kindness, often providing support to those in need, Paul Chukwuma has been involved in various charitable initiatives, demonstrating a similar commitment to giving back to the community.
‘Their philanthropic efforts have been a hallmark of their public service, earning them a reputation as dedicated leaders with large hearts. Both leaders have pursued leadership roles, driven by their passion for governing Anambra State. Ifeanyi Ubah initially ran and won the senate under the Young Progressives Party (YPP) before joining the All Progressives Congress (APC), while Paul Chukwuma transitioned from APC to YPP, seeking to better the state’s governance. The emergence of Paul Chukwuma as a leading figure in Anambra State politics may signal a new era in the state’s governance, and may be a reincarnation of Ifeanyi Ubah in the politics of Anambra State.
Chukwuma has pledged to prioritize security, infrastructure development, job creation, and qualitative education, aiming to attract investors and promote economic growth in the state, all of which were Ifeanyi Ubah’s thinking and philosophy before death struck. The shared commitment to progress and development of both Ifeanyi Ubah and Paul Chukwuma has formed a confluence in their pursuit of better governance for Anambra State.’
As true as this sounds, while Chukwuma has inherited some of Ifeanyi Ubah’s supporters who were still remaining in YPP, members of Ikemba Front, a political group founded by Ifeanyi Ubah, have adopted Chukwuma as their candidate. The founder of the group, Dr. Chidi Okoye, who announced this at a meeting in Awka, added that their decision was anchored on Chukwuma’s pedigree, vision, competence, capacity and capability.
He said: ‘Apart from the fact that the dreams and vision of Chukwuma align with the ideologies of Ikemba Front and our demised leader, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, he is the man to beat as he towers higher among other aspirants. Sir Paul Chukwuma is the man to beat in the contest.’
Okoye said the report that Ikemba Front endorsed Nicholas Ukachukwu, another aspirant, was false, insisting that the governorship aspirant had not met with the group.
Moreover, Chukwuma’s leaving of APC seems to have greatly shaken his former party as hordes of APC members have been moving over to join Chukwuma in his new party, YPP. It is believed by many that the choice of Ukachukwu in APC has made the party dead on arrival ahead of the November Poll.
But even though Chukwuma has left YPP, he has always insisted that he still believes in the Transformation Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while still striving to drag the Igbo Nation to the centre in order to fully utilize all the opportunities therein.
Additional report from Jude Atupulazi
