As residents of Anambra State march to the 5,718 polling units across the 21 local government areas of the state to elect their next governor on Saturday, a new democratic chapter in the South-East state will unfold.

With incumbent Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s tenure expected to end in March 2026, no fewer than 2,802,790 registered voters will cast their ballots in the November 8 off-cycle election.

Nigeria’s election body — the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) — says the coveted seat for the Anambra government house will be contested by 16 governorship candidates.

Those cleared by INEC include Governor Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), and John Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Also cleared by INEC are George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP), Echezona Oti of the Allied People’s Movement (APM), Ms. Chioma Ifemeludike of the African Action Congress (AAC), Jeff Nweke of Action Alliance (AA), Charles Onyeze of Accord Party (AP), Geoff Onyejegbu of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), and Jude Ezenwafor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Others are Chukwudubem Nweke of the Action Peoples Party (APP), Jerry Okeke of the Boot Party (BP), Ndidi Olieh of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), Martin Ugwoji of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and Vincent Chukwurah of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

With electioneering entering its peak, the candidates have been reeling out their agenda for ‘Ndi’ Anambra, and are in different ways trying to convince the electorate why they deserve their votes.

Like Nigerians in other parts of the country, residents of Anambra are grappling with the challenges facing the nation in different sectors, including security, education, health, employment, and the economy, among others.

While each candidate believes their strategy will improve residents’ lives, these issues may determine where the electoral pendulum will swing.

Insecurity

Anambra is one of the states where the sit-at-home order by non-state actors is still in force, restricting many residents indoors.

Among the 21 local government areas, many see Ihiala, Nnewi North, Nnewi South, Ogbaru, and Idemili North as prone to violence as the election approaches.

In the 2021 election, there were weeks of uncertainty and mounting tension due to insecurity.

But the exercise was held peacefully as the electorate defied security threats and went to their respective polling units to vote for the candidates of their choice.

To forestall any breach of peace during the election on Saturday, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has approved the deployment of 45,000 policemen for the exercise.

But the governor, who is eyeing a second term of four years in office, says to encourage investments and strengthen the economy, his plan to make Anambra the African Dubai-Taiwan Silicon Valley is still on course as security has improved across the South-East state.

He said that as opposed to what he met when he came into office, people can now sleep with both eyes closed.

He said eight councils, including Ihiala, which were “no-go areas” when his administration came on board, had been recovered from non-state actors with the establishment of Agunaechemba, the Homeland Security Strike Force.

“You had a state where, before we came into office, nobody could even wear anything that suggests you are a politician, and so on. Dr. (Chike) Akunyili was killed simply because he had a policeman in his car.

“Most of the police stations were burnt down, and even soldiers were decimated by these criminal elements.

“Eight local governments you couldn’t travel to, you couldn’t get there. And now, everybody can sleep with their two eyes closed,” Soludo said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

“Come down to Anambra; everybody is moving around. Even the most dreaded local government, which is Ihiala, where we couldn’t even have an election,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on October 19.

Soludo won the 2021 election with 112,229 votes, defeating his closest rival, Valentine Ozigbo of the PDP, who polled 53,807 votes.

However, the 2025 election is largely perceived to be a three-horse race among the ruling APGA in the state, the ruling APC at the centre, and the opposition LP, which put up a good showing in the 2023 general elections.

Soludo, a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, will count on his power of incumbency in the election.

Although the state governor is contesting on the platform of a party considered a ‘minority’ in nationwide politics due to the number of elected office holders it has across the country, the governor’s good relationship with President Bola Tinubu of the ruling APC is seen as an added advantage for him.

Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo (R), visits President Bola Tinubu (L) at the State House in Abuja on August 12, 2025

Soludo, who is from Anambra South Senatorial Zone, which is favoured by zoning, says that Anambra is an APGA fortress, and believes he will be returned elected.

“There are opponents, but there is no opposition. We will win if the votes count,” he said during a live media chat on Sunday, November 2.

Elections into public offices in Nigeria have not enjoyed large turnouts in recent times. In Anambra, the situation is not different.

In the 2021 governorship election, out of the 2,466,638 registered voters in the state, only 253,388 voters were accredited, while 241,523 votes were valid.

Last week, Soludo came under fire when opposition parties accused him of vote-buying when, during one of his campaigns, he promised to reward councils, wards, and polling units based on their performance at the polls. But he denied the allegation.

However, the opposition argues that the governor has not lived up to expectations.

The governorship candidate of the APC, Nicholas Ukachukwu, said Soludo’s government has taken the state backward.

“To them, Anambra State has gone backward, instead of moving forward under the current administration. I’m talking about 80 per cent of Anambra State.

“If there is one completed road in Nnewi South, and part of Nnewi North, the only thing the governor has done as of today [October 23, 2025] is that he wants to dualise the road that passes through Nnewi. He has destroyed some houses for which he has not paid compensation,” Ukachukwu stated in an interview with Channels Television.

But the APC candidate, despite being the flag bearer of the ruling party at the federal level, may have the political zoning arrangement in the state to contend with.

He is from the same senatorial zone as Soludo and would have the right to serve for eight years, if he wins, a situation that may not go down well with people from the central zone believed to be favoured to produce Soludo’s successor.

The APC polled 43,285 votes in the 2021 election.

The Labour Party candidate, George Muoghalu, says his campaign is centred on building a prosperous and inclusive state. In 2021, the party polled 2,802 votes.

The impact of Muoghalu’s alignment with the 2023 presidential candidate of the LP, Peter Obi, will be put to the test on Saturday.

In the 2021 election, the ADC polled 324, but John Nwosu, the candidate of the party, which in July saw the emergence of a coalition led by political bigwigs like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Obi, promised to prioritise infrastructural development and environmental management if voted into office.

Speaking when he visited Ogidi, the headquarters of the Idemili North Local Government Area of the state, in continuation of his statewide campaign tour, Nwosu promised that under his watch, environmental management would be given the attention it deserves.

He also said a united front would increase the chance of the party at the polls.

“Let us work together as a team so that we can win the election. Talk to people out there to join our party because it is the biggest and the main opposition party in Nigeria today,” Nwosu said while addressing party faithful in Orumba South Local Government Area of the state.

Anambra ADC candidate, John Nwosu, wants the party faithful to work hard and dislodge the APGA-led state government on November 8.

But one of the only two female contenders in the race and the governorship candidate of the AAC, Chioma Ifemeludike, urged the voters to take back their state through ‘ballot revolution’.

Ifemeludike stated that her mission is to overhaul the corrupt system that has brought hardship, poverty, and pain to the masses.

“I’m here to overhaul the corrupt system that has brought hardship, poverty, and pain to the masses, turning them into slaves, leaders who live their best lives, looting and misappropriating our collective wealth without accountability.

“Enough is Enough!

“On the 8th day of this month, November 2025, ‘Ndi’ Anambra must take back their state through ballot revolution,” she stated on her Facebook page.

Observers say the November 8 election will be the first big test for the new INEC chairman, Joash Amupitan, whose appointment many believe would reposition the electoral umpire, if Amupitan handles his role with the integrity he his largely known for.

INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan (centre) speaking to journalists after his swearing-in on Thursday, October 23, 2025.

“Based on his credentials, he has the capacity. Does he have the mental stamina and ability? It is clear from today that he does.

“But this is a screening; when he gets into office, he is going to face a major test. The first major test is the Anambra election, which is only a few weeks away,” the Executive Director of YIAGA Africa, Samson Itodo, stated during an interview with Channels Television.

Amupitan, who had pledged to sanitise Nigeria’s electoral system during his screening by the Senator, fired his first shot at the peace accord signing in Akwa, the state capital, where he warned against vote-buying.

“Any individuals or groups planning to subvert the will of the people will be firmly confronted within the strong hands of the law,” the Law professor stated.

As the campaign political actors and INEC conclude their preparations, and the electorate ponder over the choice to make, local and international observers, as well as Nigerians in other parts of the country, have their eyes on the election to see how things unfold at the polls. (Channels TV)