The Anambra State governorship election will be held on November 8, 2025, but already there are indications that the political landscape in the state might experience a seismic shift.
With that being the case, analysts say the fight for the soul of the Anambra State Government House in Awka will not be for the fainthearted and that the success or otherwise of the potential reelection bid of the incumbent Governor of the State, Charles Soludo, 64, will be determined in the court of public opinion.
To prepare the ground for the all-important election, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, earlier in October, reminded Nigerians how much time had elapsed since the last governorship election in the state and he approved a new date for the governorship election next year.
“As you are aware, the last governorship election in Anambra State was held on November 6, 2021. By the effluxion of time, the governorship election is due next year.
“Consequently, the Commission has approved that the 2025 Anambra State governorship election should be held on Saturday, November 8, 2025,” Yakubu announced.
Soludo, a member of the governing party in the State – the All Progressives Grand Alliance – is expected to jostle for the state’s top job against other equally motivated candidates that will emerge from the People’s Democratic Party, the All Progressives Congress as well as the Labour Party, and the contest promises to offer a knife-edge spectacle.
Soludo’s nemesis from the last governorship election in the State, Valentine Ozigbo, is expected to be in the running for the governorship seat in 2025. He contested in 2021 under the banner of the PDP last time out but is now with the LP.
Ozigbo is also a close ally of former presidential candidate of the LP, Peter Obi, and has the potential to beat all-comers when party primaries, according to INEC, are held from March 20, 2025, to April 10, 2025.
Apparently, all Soludo’s efforts to be in Ozigbo’s good books have done little to move the needle in his (Soludo’s) favour and this is because the former Transcorp CEO, Ozigbo, said that he had assessed Soludo’s performance in office and it was below par, hence his decision to be in the mix when the electioneering process got underway.
“We have seen the leadership of Soludo in two years and some of you may be impressed but I’m not.
“After the last election in 2021, I called and wished him well and moved on and we have not spoken again since then. My decision was to assess him after two years, and having seen it, I’m not impressed and I want to start holding him accountable,” Ozigbo said.
Although Soludo, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has not declared interest in the 2025 race, he is expected to throw down the gauntlet to his would-be opponents, and the Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, painted a rosy picture of a possible reelection bid by his principal.
Mefor said, “Soludo has not declared intention to contest for a second term. He is too busy putting policies in the state to develop the state.
“I’m one of those that will persuade him to run, and if he runs, I will ensure that he wins. He has shown himself to be what Anambra people want.
“All the indices favour Soludo. He is from Anambra South, and the zoning formula favours him. The zoning formula we have in Anambra is such that one is entitled to a second term.”
Like Mefor, many Soludo’s supporters generally believe that he is a high-flying Governor. Some of them agree that he has turned the state into a huge construction site and insist he has delivered on most of his campaign promises.
In their assessment, Soludo’s achievements are remarkable and deserving of reelection because the people of the state think highly of him and his passion to serve Anambrarians is unmatched.
“The only thing that can save Soludo is an unreserved apology by him to Obi. But we all know he will not do that. He is a proud man”
Soludo for his own part says that hard work is the key to success and a quality that can endear him to the people. The Governor obviously knows this because he has come a long way from his days as a “fresh” politician in APGA trying to find his feet. He joined the party in 2013.
The Isuofia, Aguata-born Governor dared to dream and pursued his dream of becoming the state’s helmsman and during his inauguration in 2022 as the Governor of the Southeastern state, he promised to work with the people of the state “to make Anambra proud.”
The 64-year-old also indicated in his inaugural address that he would hit the ground running.
“Today is my first day at work. I just reported for duty and will work for at least eight hours. We had more than a month since the election to celebrate our historic victory. Now is the time to work, and there is no minute or kobo to waste in fanfare,” he said.
Moreover, Soludo made Ndi Anambra aware that he felt their pulse on the need for urgent solutions that would address all of the State’s myriad problems.
“Today, I stand up for the millions of Ndi Anambra for whom this mandate means everything. The hopes and expectations rise up to the heavens. Understandably, all of us wish that I could perform miracles – by waving my hands and all our problems will be solved. I hear you. I feel your pulse,” he said.
Despite his lofty expectations for the state, Soludo’s detractors have said that his sour political relationship with Obi, also a former Governor of Anambra State, would be an albatross around his neck as next year’s governorship contest approaches.
Interestingly, there is a bit of history between the two men. During the 2009 governorship election in Anambra State, Soludo, then a member of the PDP contested against Obi, the then APGA candidate. Obi won the election, and as for Soludo, he left the PDP in 2013 for APGA.
The hopeful Soludo, once again, aspired to be Governor under APGA in the 2013 governorship election. However, he was disqualified from the race by APGA’s screening committee.
Analysts say the “disqualification” was allegedly engineered by Obi, who wanted the immediate past Governor of the State, Willie Obiano, to succeed him. And it is believed, too, that it is what planted the seed of discord between Soludo and Obi
Consequently, about eight months after Soludo’s ascension to the governorship, he famously said in 2022 that the much-touted investments made by Obi in Anambra State were worth next to nothing.
Of course, Soludo was lampooned for his “effrontery” but he stood his ground and followed up his controversial revelation with an article titled, “History Beckons and I Will Not Be Silent (Part 1),” which called Obi’s 2023 presidential ambition into question.
“Let’s be clear, Peter Obi knows that he can’t and won’t win. He knows the game he is playing, and we know, too. And he knows that we know,” Soludo wrote in part, as he stirred up a hornet’s nest.
He also said that Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Bola Tinubu of the APC were the two persons seriously contesting for president, and that “the rest is exciting drama.”
A political analyst, Charles Ndubuisi, told The Point, “The Anambra State 2025 governorship election will help us to know who has the bragging right between Obi and Soludo. It is a long time coming and Nigerians will get to know the pretender and the contender.
“I want to believe that Soludo will have the upper hand in the election. He is the Governor and the power of incumbency is in his pockets. But you never can tell.”
Another analyst, Damion Ugorji, said, “Soludo’s performance in office should help him stay in office, but the problem is that he has not done enough to earn a second term in office.
“Anambra is still one of the hotbeds of kidnappings and unknown gunmen. And the majority of the people there are yet to feel the impact of the government in their lives.
“As for Soludo’s grouse with Obi, what happened to Tinubu in Lagos State will affect Soludo in Anambra State next year. The man will get to experience the force of Obidients in the state.
“The only thing that can save Soludo is an unreserved apology by him to Obi. But we all know he will not do that. He is a proud man.”
