The folks of Anambra State have returned Charles Soludo as governor, handing him a second time period.
In Saturday’s election, Mr Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) polled 422,664 votes to safe a sweeping victory, defeating his closest challenger, Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), with 99,445 votes. The Younger Progressives Occasion candidate, Paul Chukwuma, got here third with 37,753 votes, whereas his counterpart from the Labour Occasion, George Moghalu, claimed the fourth place within the election with 10,576 votes.
Mr Soludo gained in all 21 native authorities areas of the state—solely the second time such a clear sweep has occurred in Anambra’s historical past. The primary was in 2017, when former governor Willie Obiano achieved the feat on the APGA platform.
Beneath are the important thing elements that paved the way in which for Mr Soludo’s victory.
Incumbency benefit
Incumbency stays some of the potent forces in Nigerian politics, and Mr Soludo leveraged it successfully. Having first been elected in November 2021, the previous governor of the Central Financial institution of Nigeria approached this election with the entire authorities equipment behind him.
As serving governor, he managed the political buildings throughout Anambra’s 21 native authorities areas and 326 wards, giving him a decisive benefit. The facility to mobilise sources, deploy appointees, and affect native dynamics all labored in his favour.
Mr Soludo additionally loved the visibility that comes with the workplace. His capability to ship initiatives positioned him over challengers who lacked comparable platforms.
Not like in 2021, when he needed to combat by means of a crowded and tense race, he confronted minimal inside opposition this time. He emerged unopposed within the APGA major election, permitting him to channel his vitality towards the overall election. His marketing campaign centered on continuity—projecting his first-term achievements and promising to consolidate them.
First-term initiatives
Whereas incumbency offered Mr Soludo with construction, his efficiency gave him credibility. Analysts consider his seen achievements throughout key sectors earned him real goodwill from voters, particularly in rural communities.
One in all his initiatives was the launch of the Agunechemba Vigilante in January 2025. This safety outfit assisted safety companies within the combat towards violent crimes and separatist-linked assaults that had plagued the state. Although controversial at inception, the transfer helped restore a way of calm in beforehand risky areas corresponding to Ihiala, Nnewi South, and elements of Aguata.
In infrastructure, Mr Soludo has overseen the development or rehabilitation of quite a few roads, together with the Ekwulobia Flyover, which is now nearing completion. His administration’s give attention to connecting rural cities to industrial hubs seems to have resonated strongly with voters within the hinterland, the place unhealthy roads had lengthy hindered financial exercise.
His free training coverage for pupils in public faculties and free antenatal and supply care in state hospitals additional endeared him to low-income households. These insurance policies aligned together with his “Answer Agenda,” a promise to scale back inequality and broaden entry to social providers.
The governor additionally pushed main city renewal initiatives, most notably the transformation of Kpoko, a once-notorious slum, right into a deliberate city neighborhood. He additionally initiated the development of a new Anambra Authorities Home.
APGA’s dominance
For over a decade, APGA has maintained a formidable presence in Anambra politics, branding itself because the “homegrown” get together of the state. The get together has efficiently constructed deep institutional roots since Peter Obi’s landmark victory below its banner in 2006.
Earlier than the 2025 ballot, APGA officers repeatedly boasted that the opposition, comprising the APC, Labour Occasion, and PDP, posed no actual menace. That confidence was not unfounded.
The get together’s construction spans 21 LGAs and 326 wards, anchored by an unlimited community of ward captains, conventional rulers, neighborhood leaders, and native appointees. This grassroots penetration provides APGA unmatched attain in voter mobilisation, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas the place elections are sometimes determined.
Mr Soludo’s marketing campaign additionally benefited from the “Answer Marshals”, a newly created corps of community-based voter coordinators tasked with neighbourhood mobilisation and real-time polling coordination. The initiative, which mixed know-how with face-to-face persuasion, enhanced turnout in APGA strongholds and blunted the opposition’s positive factors in city areas like Onitsha and Awka.
Mr Soludo successfully tapped into that sentiment, presenting his marketing campaign as each a private mandate and a continuation of the state’s political custom.
Political alignment with Tinubu
Though they belong to totally different events, Mr Soludo’s rising rapport with President Bola Tinubu added a refined however highly effective layer to his political calculation.
Whereas the president didn’t publicly endorse him, their relationship has been mutually useful. Mr Soludo’s membership in Mr Tinubu’s Presidential Financial Advisory Workforce, to which he was appointed in March 2024, gave him proximity to federal energy and entry to the nationwide dialog.
In August, Mr Soludo visited Mr Tinubu carrying a cap emblazoned with the image related to the president. The gesture drew consideration and hypothesis a couple of budding alliance between the 2 males.
Even earlier than then, Mr Soludo has persistently praised the president’s financial reforms and expressed assist for his re-election bid—a transfer interpreted as strategic positioning for federal cooperation.
For a governor looking for reelection, such goodwill mattered. It insulated him from potential federal antagonism and signalled to native energy brokers that he loved entry to the centre. In a political local weather the place safety and electoral logistics usually hinge on federal establishments, that notion alone carried weight.
For the goodwill, Mr Tinubu, observers say, didn’t appear to affix forces with the APC candidate to wrest energy from APGA’s Mr Soludo.
Elite endorsement
Politics in Anambra has at all times been intertwined with commerce. The state, residence to a few of Nigeria’s most profitable entrepreneurs, is formed by the affect of a moneyed way of life and the elite class.
Through the marketing campaign, distinguished businessmen, industrialists, and politicians threw their weight behind Mr Soludo. Their assist could have offered monetary muscle and social legitimacy, thereby amplifying APGA’s outreach.
Foremost amongst these figures was Arthur Eze, the billionaire oil magnate and philanthropist, who publicly endorsed Mr Soludo’s reelection. Mr Eze’s backing was important for the sources it unlocked and the message it despatched to different influential actors inside Anambra’s tight-knit enterprise neighborhood.
In a politically literate state like Anambra, endorsements from revered elites, corresponding to senators, non secular leaders, and business moguls, carry important symbolic weight. They assist form public notion and reinforce narratives of stability and continuity.
By efficiently rallying this class of elites, Mr Soludo projected a picture of cohesion and inevitability round his marketing campaign. His capability to unite APGA’s political hierarchy with the state’s financial elite ensured a disciplined and well-funded effort that dwarfed these of his challengers.
Widespread goodwill
One other vital think about Mr Soludo’s favour in Saturday’s ballot was the widespread goodwill he enjoys from the folks of Anambra State. PREMIUM TIMES reporters who lined the train noticed that the goodwill unfold throughout the state’s three senatorial districts.
The admiration for him was palpable from one polling unit to a different, together with these exterior Mr Soludo’s native authorities space and senatorial district. Little marvel the governor gained in all of the 21 native authorities areas of the state.
Analysts say the governor’s goodwill in Anambra was not tied to political and/or geographical affiliation.
“His victory was anticipated. The person is performing. All people is aware of this, particularly those that knew Anambra earlier than he got here on board,” a critic of the governor informed PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday evening.
David Eleke, an Anambra-based journalist, believes that the governor’s goodwill stems from his excellent efficiency in numerous improvement sectors within the final three and a half years in energy.
Zoning association
Mr Soludo’s victory was partly tied to the zoning association in Anambra State, which favoured the Anambra South District, the place he hails from. A loss for the governor on the polls would have disrupted the association in several methods.
First, a victory for an additional candidate from the Anambra South District would hamper the association, contemplating that such a person would have needed to control for 2 phrases. Mr Soludo has ruled for practically 4 years. Additionally, the emergence of a candidate from one other district would have thwarted the association. The folks of Anambra seem to have factored this of their choice. After Mr Soludo’s second time period, energy will routinely shift to a different district.
