The federal ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is showing seriousness to compete ahead of the November 8, 2025, gubernatorial ballot in Anambra State. But gladiators for the party?s ticket are stopping at nothing, including zoning, religious denomination and deep pocket as their bargaining chips, LEO SOBECHI reports.

Barely three days to the April 5 governorship primary of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra State, the contenders have unleashed lobbyists on some influential national leaders of the party in Abuja.

Today, the party?s National Working Committee (NWC) is expected to announce the leadership and composition of the Primary Election Committee and release the result of the recent delegate election. The party decided to adopt the indirect instead of the direct methodology for the straw poll following the representation by its subnational leaders, particularly those in the state.

Checks by The Guardian revealed that although the choice of the indirect approach, which involves the use of elected delegates did not come easy, it was adopted to serve two purposes.

Firstly, the party says it wants to avert a repeat of its previous experience in 2021 when the emergence of Senator Andy Uba became the subject of prolonged litigation that culminated in the invalidation of APC?s participation in the governorship election, which was won by former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo.

Abdulahi Ganduje

Secondly, the Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje-led NWC said they were wary of the likely challenges that the direct nomination process could throw up, especially regarding the security situation in the state. The party was sufficiently briefed and convinced that some local government areas were noted as flash points of criminality and secessionist agitations.

Most importantly, the recourse to an indirect primary was endorsed based on the need to ensure that the billionaire aspirants embrace each other and unite after the nomination to proceed to the main election as a cohesive fighting force.

APC national chairman and former Kano State governor, Ganduje, has continued to plead with the aspirants not to use their resources against the party?s interest, reminding them that at the end of the nomination process, only one person will be on the ballot. At a meeting with the aspirants and other relevant stakeholders, the national chairman stated: ?What matters is the party?s interest. Only one candidate will emerge to fly the APC flag at the main election. We should resolve to work for the party and support whoever becomes the candidate.?

Push to the finish line

As the clock ticks for the eventual culmination of the nomination process, the aspirants exerted their energies and strategies to ensure that they become that one candidate that would represent APC and confront the incumbent, Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

It should be noted that following the internal disputation within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), the Anambra State gubernatorial election turned into a battle of the ?progressives?. Although the LP is serious about fielding a standard bearer for the November poll, the leadership crisis at the national headquarters, which separated its 2023 presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi and the embattled national chairman, Mr. Julius Abure, doused the intensity and competitiveness of LP.

Being the home state of Obi, many had looked up to an explosive governorship combat between LP and APGA. But the internal schism within the party, which led Obi to side with the lone LP governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, to enthrone a caretaker committee headed by former Finance Minister and Senatorial contender, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, reduced that expectation.

Nonetheless, addressing Anambra stakeholders of the party in Onitsha recently, Mr. Peter Obi denounced insinuations in certain quarters that he had quit LP, stressing that exit or entry into any political platform is not something that can be done in the darkness of the night.

He also pointedly denied any plans of joining the ruling APC, explaining that he would never contemplate the step. ?Those who left LP to other places went there for their personal interest. I have always said that politics and public service should be about serving the people. He added that I have not left LP and am not joining the other party, now or in the foreseeable future,? he added.

The Guardian learned that Obi?s disclosure followed small talks that trailed the defection of his close ally, Mr. Valentine Chineto Ozigbo, whom Obi assisted in cinching the 2021 governorship ticket on the platform of PDP.

Ozigbo had, shortly after quitting LP and berthing in APC, submitted that he looked forward to welcoming the former LP?s presidential standard bearer into the federal ruling party. He stressed that his move ensured that Anambra State is also connected to the national political grid for enhanced reticulation of federal presence and projects.

As things stand in APC, The Guardian discovered that no sooner had Ozigbo joined the party and the race for its governorship ticket than he emerged as one of the front-row contenders. Discreet searches showed that both his defection to APC and contention for the guber ticket is being oiled by a powerful lobby group led by a prominent banker from South/South, who is believed to have the ears of President Bola Tinubu.

But a close party source hinted that the President?s son, Seyi, was instrumental to Ozigbo?s entry to accentuate the youth inclusion in Southeast politics. It was gathered that after some Anambra stakeholders reached out to APC leaders on the imperatives of denominational politics in the state, where the Catholics exert dominance, Seyi decided to make a case for Ozigbo, who ended up as a first runner-up in the 2021 governorship poll.

?You know Anambra is Seyi Tinubu?s state-in-law. He was instrumental in the appointment of Mark Okoye Junior as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the South-East Development Commission (SEDC). Seyi has been encouraging young people to take interest in politics. So, that is how Valentine came into the equation,? a source within the state APC executive committee disclosed.

However, the party?s Deputy National Organising Secretary (DNOS), Nze Chidi Duru, maintained that the decision as to who flies the APC flag in the governorship election remains that of party faithful in the state. He dismissed insinuations that the Presidency was interested in who emerges as the party?s standard bearer, stressing that dropping could be part of the marketing strategies of some competitors.

Apart from Ozigbo, other front-row contenders include Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo and Dr. Paul Chukwuma. But for the involvement of the duo of Okonkwo and Chukwuma, the race for the APC ticket would have been entirely a Southern affair.

While Ozigbo and Ukachukwu hail from Anambra South Senatorial District, Okonkwo and Chukwuma come from Central and North Districts, respectively.

Competition fueled by zoning, religious arguments

OF the four frontline contenders, only Ukachukwu is a non-Catholic. Religious denominational contention became a central issue in Anambra gubernatorial contestation in 2013, when some APGA chieftains led by the then national chairman, Sir Victor Umeh, prevailed on the then outgoing governor, Peter Obi, to withdraw support for Dr. Chike Obidigbo, who emerged as the consensus choice of Anambra North Senatorial District.

It took several meetings at the Onitsha Catholic Archdiocese, where Arch-Bishop Valerian Okeke holds court, for Obi to bow to the dictates of the Catholic church, which paved the way for the sudden emergence of Chief Willie Obiano.

The eventual disqualification of Obidigbo and the current incumbent, Prof. Soludo, was APGA?s response to the denominational and zonal factors. As another governorship contest beckons nearly 12 years after that encounter, the issues of zoning and religious denomination are still featured in the governorship recruitment process in Anambra State.

Within the state chapter of APC, the current singsong is that if the party is serious about adding Anambra to its fold of governors, ?only a Catholic can replace a Catholic.? Governor Soludo, a Catholic, has already emerged as the defending champion on the APGA platform.

For Prince Ukachukwu and Prof. Okonkwo, the issues of religious denomination and zoning form a curious mix in the pre-primary battles they are forced to contend with. The two billionaires are confident that campaign or election funding do not present any source of worry. But, while Ukachukwu, a Pentecostal Christian, is favoured by zoning, Okonkwo, an ardent Catholic, is swimming against the tide as far as zoning is concerned having come from the populous Anambra Central District.

Okonkwo and his supporters contend that zoning is a ready avenue to reinforce failure, stressing that ?as an ?A? state, Anambra should be hankering after excellence, in the face of the abysmal failure of Governor Soludo.? Okonkwo, who is an entrepreneur maintains that in the November governorship poll, the best person to defeat Soludo is a Professor, arguing that while the former CBN governor is an academic professor, he comes along as a practical professor with hands on experience built over the years as a wealth creator and manager of men.

Also, pushing back on the denominational albatross, Prince Ukachukwu, says that since zoning has caught on in the state, it was time for the principle to be extended to religious denominations.

Amplifying Ukachukwu?s line of reasoning, a group known as Anambra Equity Movement (ANEM) recently addressed a press conference, stating that after 26 years, the Catholics should support a non-Catholic to serve the state as governor.

Describing itself as ?a coalition of Socio-Political and Religious Pressure Groups, Civil Societies and Non-Governmental Organisations,? ANEM said it strongly believes and is committed to bringing Justice, Equity and Fairness in distribution of elective and appointive political offices in Anambra State and Nigeria at Large.

In a resolution signed by, Hon. Engr. TonyUche Chukwudi Ezekwelu, KSJI(Convener/Chairman); Engr. Aniebue Chibuzo, (General Secretary); Chief Nestor Okolo, (Chairman, Resolution Drafting Committee); Engr Paul Obulum, (Secretary, Resolution Drafting Committee); Barrister Chika Ekwenugo, (Director Media Publicity); Hon Mrs. Jacinta Nnechi, (Director of Women Mobilization) and Hon. Rolland Ohazulike, (Director Youth Mobilization) among others, ANEM said the denominational rotation will ensure that all facets and classes of Anambrarians are given a sense of belonging.

The group formulated a novel approach to the zoning structure, pointing out that apart from ensuring equity through geopolitical consideration, zoning by professional cum class, religion and political party should be added to the basket.

As APC governorship contenders continue to tackle the contending issues about zoning and denominationalism, some stakeholders have cried out that the incumbent has been feeding the flame of discontent to foul the waters in APC and set the stage for post-primary election frictions.

For instance, a frontline activist, Dr. Ifeanyichukwu Okonkwo, has alleged that Governor Soludo has been doing everything in his power to ensure that all the votes of the South go to him.

Okonkwo, who is the convener of Movement for the Voice of Democracy (MOVERS), disclosed that the governor had been trying to destabilise Anambra Central through distorted project distribution. He said that the attempt by the governor to destroy Afor Nnobi, one of the top five traditional markets in Anambra State was not for overriding public interest, as stipulated by the law, but to achieve a parochial agenda.

Okonkwo stated: ?The governor?s decision to demolish Afor Nnobi market was just to shift commercial activities to the nearby Ekwulobia Market in Aguata Local Government Area, where he hails from.

?If Soludo could build a flyover and a brand new ultra-modern market at Ekwulobia alone, nothing stops him from constructing one flyover across Afor Nnobi to ease traffic, rather than destroying a traditional market that offers thousands of rural dwellers the opportunity to eke a living.?

While insisting that the market demolition was politically motivated, the rights activist queried why the government did not involve consultants to design the road or undertake environment impact assessment.

However, the 2013 governorship aspirant, Obidigbo, maintains that developmental and governance concerns should be the core issues in the governor?s election. (The Guardian)

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