Five major ‘contenders’ of 2021 Anambra guber poll

By Alao Abiodun

Barring the unforeseen, the next governorship election of Anambra will be a fierce contest between major political parties in the state.

The administration of Governor Willie Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) will come to an end on March 17, 2022.

Prominent contenders in the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Young Progressives Party (YPP) will slug it out in this year’s contest. They are:

Charles Soludo

APGA is the ruling party in Anambra State. It has been in power since 2005.

A former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Charles Soludo, on June 23, emerged winner of the primaries organised by the main faction of APGA led by Victor Oye.

Soludo, a professor, got 740 votes to beat Okwudili Ezenwankwo, who came a distant second with 41 votes while ThankGod Ibeh polled four votes.

Soludo is from Aguata Local Government Area in Anambra south senatorial district.

He was the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria from 2004 to 2009.

He also served as the Chief Economic Adviser to the President and was the CEO of the Nigerian National Planning Commission from 2003 to 2004.

Andy Uba

In APC, confusion also trailed the emergence of Andy Uba, a former senator, in what was described as a “ghost primaries” by some members of the party.

The chairman of the APC primary election panel and Ogun Governor, Dapo Abiodun, said Uba emerged the winner with 230,201 votes while his closest rival, Johnbosco Onunkwo, polled 28,746 votes. He said 348,490 votes were cast in the primary election.

The governor noted that the election committee adopted the open ballot mode also known as Option A4 to conduct the primary election.

Andy Uba is a younger brother of Ugochukwu Uba, winner of the factional PDP primary.

However, some APC members in the state rejected the outcome of the polls but he is backed by the Caretaker Committee of the party at the national level.

Uba is from Anambra south. He emerged the candidate of the APC for the November 6 election.

Ifeanyi Ubah

Senator Ifeanyi Ubah is the lawmaker representing Anambra south.

He emerged candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) for the forthcoming governorship election.

A businessman who was initially known for importing motor tyres and vehicle spare parts, he founded Capital Oil and Gas Limited in 2001.

He is also the founder of The Authority Newspaper, a daily newspaper and owner of Ifeanyi Ubah F.C, a football club in the Nigeria Premier League, following its purchase as Gabros International Football Club.

Valentine Ozigbo

Valentine Chineto Ozigbo won one of the two factional PDP governorship primary elections in Anambra state last weekend.

Ozigbo, a former chief executive officer of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria, hails from Amesi, in Aguata L.G.A of Anambra south.

He secured 62 votes to emerge as the flagbearer of the party for the November 6 governorship election in the state.

The exercise which saw Ozigbo emerge as the flagbearer is backed by the national working committee (NWC) of the party.

The result of the election was announced by Philip Shaibu, deputy governor of Edo state and secretary of the party’s electoral committee.’

Chief Ugochukwu Uba

Chief Ugochukwu Uba, a former senator representing Anambra south in the national assembly, is also laying claim to the PDP gubernatorial ticket in the state.

He won the Anambra Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primaries organised by the Chief Chukwudi Umeaba led faction.

The election, which was held at Paul University Complex, Awka saw Uba winning with 275 votes from the 665 votes cast to become the flag bearer of the faction.

Already he has promised to restore PDP to its pride of place in Anambra politics after 16 years of being in the doldrums, adding that if elected on Nov. 6, he would address the leadership challenges of the stage including the local government system.