By Chekwube Nzomiwu
The emergence of billionaire businessman, estate mogul, philanthropist and former federal lawmaker, Prince Hon. Nicholas Ukachukwu, as the standard bearer of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for the November 8, 2025 Anambra State governorship election is not only significant for Anambra politics but also for the ruling party at the federal level. Why did I say so? Often it is said that democracy is a game of numbers. However, numbers have significantly not counted during elections in Anambra state since the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) came to power in the state in March 2006.
For instance, the incumbent APGA Governor, Professor Charles Soludo, secured his mandate in November 2021 with 112,000 out of the 2.5 million registered voters in the state at that time. What it means is that Soludo is governing the state today with the mandate given to him by a paltry 4.5 percent of the eligible voters in the state.
Although some people may argue that voter apathy is an issue in the entire country, the situation in Anambra has been worsened by the prolonged non-conduct of local government election by successive APGA governors, thereby stifling democracy at the grassroots. Before Governor Soludo conducted council polls last September after two years in office, there was no local government election in the state for more than 20 years.
However, with the emergence of Ukachukwu, a political field marshal as the candidate of APC, the federal party, there is hope that numbers will count significantly in the coming Anambra governorship election. This is the first time that a political field marshal would be running as the governorship candidate of a federal party since APGA came to power in Anambra State in 2006.
The other political field marshal in Anambra state, late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah never had the opportunity of running on the platform of a federal party. Hence, it was easy for APGA to contain Ubah on the two occasions that he contested for the governorship, in spite of his grassroots support base and war chest. Ubah, however, got a consolation prize in the Anambra South senatorial seat.
Until Ubah’s untimely death last year, he had one thing in common with Ukachukwu. Both men established organic grassroots political structures, unlike most of their contemporaries in the state who rode on the back of political godfathers or the church, to ascend to power. But unlike Ubah who joined politics in Anambra state much later in 2013, Ukachukwu is an old warhorse. In fact, the only time they clashed in a senatorial election, Ukachukwu lost as the APGA candidate because wolves within the party sabotaged him.
The exploits of the “Ikuku oma” structure in Anambra politics dated back to the 2003 Anambra South senatorial election. He won a landslide victory in the senatorial election and was preparing for his inauguration as a Senator when the unscrupulous Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra state cancelled his victory and announced Senator Ugochukwu Uba who did not contest the election as the winner.
Ukachukwu approached the Election Petition tribunal in Awka and reclaimed his mandate. He suffered another setback in the hands of a three-man jury of the Court of Appeal in Enugu who robbed him of his victory under questionable circumstances. His petition to the National Judicial Council (NJC) led to the dismissal of two out of the three members of the Appeal Court panel that handled the case.
After his setback in PDP, he ran for the governorship on the platform of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP), before teaming up with APGA where he remained until recently when he joined the APC. As of today, APGA has not recovered from his exit because many members of the party moved with him to APC.
Being a political field marshal, his candidature has put the federal party in a very strong position for the first time as a leading contender for the Anambra governorship seat. Before now, Anambra state is one of the two states in the South East that APC has performed abysmally since its formation in 2013, the other being Enugu state.
The poor performance of the federal party in these two South East states has been largely attributed to lack of grassroots structures. Ukachukwu’s candidature has automatically bridged this gap in Anambra. Owing to his emergence, the odds favour APC in the forthcoming governorship election in the state, as the people cannot wait to return to the central government after almost two decades of operating on the fringes of Nigerian politics.
The deprivation that the people had suffered, both in federal appointments and infrastructure, as a result of the disconnection from the centre, is unquantifiable. I discussed this in details in my earlier article titled, “Reconnecting Anambra state to the national political grid.”
If federal connection is not important, small political parties like APGA would not be “falling head over heels” to ally with the federal ruling party every election season. Unfortunately for them this time around, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a party man, unlike some of his predecessors. His recent warning to sack the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) if APC loses the seat of power to PDP buttresses this fact.
Luckily for the people of Anambra, Ukachukwu has promised to use his street credibility to tackle the insecurity, which rocked the state like volcanic eruption in the first three years of the administration of the incumbent Governor, Professor Charles Soludo. This is cheering news because no serious investor will like to take his investment to a place where it is not safe.
With adequate security in Anambra state, there would be a reversal of the movement of commercial activities from Onitsha to Asaba, the capital of Delta state. Ukachukwu’s vast experience in business leaves no one in doubt that Anambra will become a beehive of activity for investors if he becomes the Governor. Without a doubt the state’s very large business community would be happy to rally round their own. He is somebody who has impacted the lives of people in the state with his personal resources through philanthropy.
Besides, experience has taught us in Anambra that governance takes more than being a theoretical Professor of Econometrics. Pundits see the APC candidate as somebody who possesses the qualities that are lacking in those at the helm of affairs in Anambra state today, particularly empathy and emotional intelligence. Judging by Ukachukwu’s antecedents in public service as a former Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and one-time Member of the House of Representatives, he has the capacity, competence and sagacity to steer the ship of the state.
In conclusion, what Anambra needs is a governor that can relate with people across every strata and divides of the society, to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, as the bases for building a progressive and prosperous state, and not a deeply conceited character who makes bogus promises.
