Eligible voters in Anambra State will today elect their local government executives for the first time in 11 years.
The last local government election in the state took place in 2013 at the twilight of the administration of former Governor Peter Obi. Since then, successive administrations, particularly under Willie Obiano, opted to manage local councils through caretaker committees.
The incumbent Governor Charles Soludo also continued with this tradition since assuming office in 2022 until a recent Supreme Court decision outlawed the practice of running local governments with un-elected officials.
The governor recently announced that eight political parties would be participating in the election. However, Tony Nnalue, Commissioner for Information and Logistics at the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC), stated that he did not have a clear figure on the number of parties involved.
Soludo listed parties like the Action Alliance (AA), Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), but not all have candidates contesting across all the local government areas.
The announcement of September 28 as the date for the election had, however, sparked controversy among opposition parties, who argued that the timeline was too short to allow for adequate preparation, including primaries, sales of forms and campaigns. The ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the state, however, dismissed these concerns, insisting that the preparation period was sufficient.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP) expressed dissatisfaction with the election process, threatening to seek legal action.
Chief Basil Ejidike, APC’s state chairman, said his party would not participate in what he described as a “planned sham election,” citing poor planning and lack of transparency. He criticised recent amendments to state electoral laws, accusing ANSIEC, the state electoral body of favouring the APGA and failing to involve other political parties in the process.
APC’s state legal adviser, Chukwunonso Chiwuba, argued that the amended electoral laws passed in August 2024 were invalid since the election process had already commenced.
The Labour Party similarly refused to participate in the election. In a statement issued by the party’s publicity secretary, Theo Egbe, the LP described the local government election as “ill-conceived and contrived” under “obnoxious and illegal” electoral laws.
Labour Party affirmed its commitment to challenge the legitimacy of the election through legal channels, and warned its members against engaging with any unauthorised sale of nomination forms.
Other political parties under the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), however, expressed their willingness to participate in the election provided the ANSIEC extends the timeline and ensures a level-playing field.
At a meeting held in Awka, the IPAC called for more time to prepare, and requested a review of voter registration to include newly eligible voters.
In contrast, the APGA remains confident of winning the election. At a campaign rally, Governor Soludo declared that the party would win all the 21 local government chairmanship seats and 326 councillor positions. He dismissed the opposition parties as disorganised, saying the APGA had already secured four local government chairmanships unopposed.