Anambra Decides: Who is the real winner?

I think the real winner of the Anambra Governorship election is not Chukwuma Soludo. It is Ifeanyi Ubah. Yes, Soludo pulled the highest number of votes announced so far, and has opened a seemingly unsurpassable lead. But many people expected APGA to do very well, even win handily if there is no massive rigging. In the last election to the same office, APGA won all the 21 local government councils in an election that, arguably PDP was stronger and APC had a better candidate. And APC had not become the party of the killing herdsmen. No doubt, Soludo is a romantic candidate and has a soaring reputation and dazzling credential. But he did not outperform the dour and annoying Obiano.

Some think Valentine Ozigbo, the PDP candidate is the real winner. He even did better than war-mongering APC with all the structural advantage of a party ruling at the center and the famed magic of its campaign council Chair, the Governor of Imo State. Anambra is PDP in a significant sense. It always wins legislative elections but fails in gubernatorial elections because every big man, and lately, woman, in the party wants to be governor by hook or crook. So, they never fully support their candidate. So, yes Valentine did well . But considering that Anambra is PDP as much as APGA, we don’t consider him the winner. He could have done better.

Dr Ifeanyi Uba won in the sense that he took YPP to a race and grabbed one local government area. Note that APC has not grabbed any. YPP does not exist anywhere apart from anywhere you see Ubah. He won a senate race with YPP and audaciously thought he could be Governor of Anambra with YPP in spite of APGA and PDP. And the result shows it was not a pipe-dream.

Those who voted for YPP in the election voted for Dr Ifeanyi Ubah. He had proved he is personally a strong political force and had a captive voting block. Now that has a freshly minted LLB degree, he could further burnish his credential to mount a better bid next time. His immediate goal will be to hold on to his senatorial post. Who knows , he may add a masters degree and a doctorate before 2024 and become a real Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah.

Baring any political ill-wind or the rise and fall of young Turks like Osita Chidoka, Dr. Ubah may have a better ride to government house when the wind of zoning blows his side again.

And now, the real loser. Of course, it is APC. That party now has a big rejection card in the southeast to show. It is clear that in spite of the many big-gun decampees in the region, APC will not win a major free and fair election in the region.

This may all change after 2023.

By SAM Amadi.