This Saturday, November 8, is the day of decision for all 2.8 million Anambra electorate to choose whether to elect a new helmsman, retain, or sack the incumbent governor. This choice will be made among the 16 candidates who, for months, have been out on the hustings fighting for the soul of voters.
The 16 Governorship Candidates
Those who have thrown their hats into the ring are: Prof. Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA); Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC); Sir Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP); Mr. John Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC); Dr. George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP); Oti Echezona of the Allied People’s Movement (APM); and Chief Jeff Nweke of the Action Alliance (AA).
The list continues: Geoffrey Onyejegbu of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP); Jude Ezenwafor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Chukwududem Nweke of the Action Peoples Party (APP); Jerry Okeke of the Boot Party (BP); Martin Ugwoji of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP); and Vincent Chukwurah of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
It will not be an all-men affair as two female candidates will also seek the people’s votes today. They are Ms. Chioma Ifemeludike of the African Action Congress (AAC) and Ndidi Olieh of the National Rescue Movement (NRM).
The females are not left out among the deputy governorship candidates — Appolonia Ezeadili (Accord), Senator Uche Ekwunife (APC), Ebele Okeke (APP), Happiness Ugboma (BP), Veronica Okaro (LP), and Faith Obi (ZLP).
Chances of the Candidates
Chukwuma Soludo, APGA
Being the incumbent gives Governor Soludo an edge over other candidates. Soludo, a Professor of Economics and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is running on the platform of APGA — the party that has been ruling the state since 2006, when Mr. Peter Obi, who won on the platform of the party in 2003, took over after the courts sacked Dr. Chris Ngige of the then PDP.
For the past two decades, Vanguard, in its report, wrote that Anambra has been a fortress for APGA, with the slogan, “This is our own.” Soludo has often said that in the coming election, he has only opponents and not opposition — a statement that insinuates he is almost like a consensus candidate.
His running mate, Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim, a medical doctor and younger brother of the Anglican Bishop of Awka Diocese and Archbishop of the Province on the Niger, is from Anambra Central.
Soludo is leveraging his performance in the last three and a half years, particularly in the areas of road construction, healthcare services, education, and combating insecurity, which almost grounded the economy of Anambra State in the early period of his administration.
The prevailing zoning arrangement in the state appears to favour the governor. As some people argue, voting for someone else may harm the arrangement.
Nicholas Ukachukwu, APC
The businessman-turned-politician, according to reports, mounted a serious campaign, touring all the 21 LGAs. With an experienced politician, Senator Uche Ekwunife, as his running mate, the team has not been a pushover. The fact that he is running on the platform of the ruling party at the centre gives him hope.
Ukachukwu has consistently argued that the APGA government has not done well, but looking at how the state was before Soludo came, most people appear not to have bought that argument.
Paul Chukwuma, YPP
He was a front-runner in the APC before the primary but had to leave the party when he felt that manipulation was going on. He joined the YPP and has since made the party stronger across the state. His running mate, Uzu Okagbue, who was Chief of Staff to former Governor Willie Obiano, is a very intelligent person whose grassroots connection has helped to move YPP forward in many communities.
Chukwuma has also said that what Anambra needs is someone who can move the state to the next level, and not one whose qualification is based on where the governor comes from. He is from the Anambra North senatorial zone, where the immediate past governor, Willie Obiano, came from. He has run a very powerful campaign and is hoping to be the surprise of the election today.
John Nwosu, ADC
The ICT guru hails from Nnewi, Anambra South senatorial zone. His running mate, Dr. Ndubuisi Nwobu, from Awka, Anambra Central, is an experienced politician, having been a local government chairman and state chairman of the PDP.
The ADC candidate initially aspired on the platform of the Labour Party until a leadership crisis in the party forced him to move to ADC. His departure from LP meant that he lost the support of the former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, who is still a member of LP. Many believe that the ADC coalition may favour him during the governorship election, as many experienced politicians and technocrats are supporting his candidacy.
George Moghalu, LP
Moghalu, also from Nnewi in Anambra South, is an experienced politician. He had run for the governorship of the state in the past, and when APC was formed, he became its National Auditor.
The immediate past Director General of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) is being supported by the former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi. Obi, however, declared that because all the people aspiring to govern the state are his friends, he wished all the candidates good luck on Saturday.
There were attempts by some people in Nnewi to prevail on him and John Nwosu of ADC for one to step down for the other, but both insisted on contesting the election. He has a female running mate from Onitsha, who is an educationist of high repute.
Jeff Nweke, AA
Ozo Jeff Nweke from Awka is the candidate of the Action Alliance (AA). A successful businessman, Nweke consistently preached against violence in elections throughout the campaign period.
He also ran a robust campaign and was among the first set of candidates to pay the mandatory N50 million that enabled candidates to mount billboards across the state.
Though the security expert campaigned vigorously, many see him as a politician of the future, especially as he comes from Anambra Central, whose turn it would be to produce the governor after eight years in the South senatorial zone.
Chioma Ifemeludike, AAC
The 36-year-old political scientist, human rights activist, and Nollywood actress is from Eziowelle in Idemili North LGA, Anambra Central.
She fancies her chances of shocking Soludo at the polls. She is particularly pained that the governor has been going about saying he has no opposition in the election.
Key Issue
As Anambra people go to the polls today, one significant issue is that, unlike in 2021 when elections could not take place in some communities due to insecurity, every community is safe for the exercise now. There is enthusiasm among the people, and the expectation is that, unlike previous elections in which the turnouts were abysmally low, Saturday’s exercise will witness a high voter turnout.
In the past few days, several meetings have been convened by political parties, with the purpose being last-minute briefing and, perhaps, mobilization of party agents who will mount the polling units.
At the INEC headquarters in Awka on Thursday, leaders of political parties were seen obtaining accreditation for their agents, just as trained ad-hoc staff were making final preparations to move to their areas of operation.
Meanwhile, a recent poll published by the African Development Institute of Research Methodology (ADIRM) placed the incumbent governor and APGA candidate, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, ahead of other candidates, with APC’s Nicholas Ukachukwu and LP’s George Moghalu following in that order.
According to the report, which was conducted between October 1 and 31, 2025, Soludo was projected to win in all 21 LGAs with about 85.7 percent of voter preference from a stratified sample of 73,500 registered voters — 3,500 sampled per LGA — while the APC and LP candidates were projected to secure 7.6 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively. Other parties collectively received 1.7 percent.
Soludo’s advantage over others was attributed to what respondents described as visible project delivery, including road rehabilitation, urban regeneration programmes, youth skills support initiatives, and improvements in education access.
The report said that over 90 percent of respondents expressed readiness to vote on November 8, which was described as a signal of rising electoral confidence in the state.
Despite the strong projection in favour of the incumbent, observers say the interplay of voter turnout, last-minute mobilization, and security deployment on election day could still shift real-life outcomes away from pre-election polls — especially in urban LGAs where last-minute swing behaviour could change the narrative.
“Polls are scientific snapshots, not election results. The ground game will matter in Onitsha, Nnewi, Ihiala, and Awka,” an analyst said.
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