The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Anambra State chapter, has warned politicians and supporters of opposition parties against attempts to spark fresh political crises in the state. The body expressed dismay at the continuous “campaign of calumny” directed at the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) by the Labour Party, Peoples Democratic Party and Young Progressives Party ahead of the state Assembly election, describing these actions as a display of negative desperation.
Battles over control of the state legislature have intensified as the rescheduled March 18, 2023 governorship and State House of Assembly elections approach. Rising from a meeting in Awka, the state capital, on Sunday, ALGON declared it would not stand by while the upcoming Assembly election is used to distract the people and Governor Prof. Chukwuma Soludo from his responsibilities.
Chief Emeka Orji, Chairman of Onitsha South Local Government Area, spoke on the sidelines of the meeting, insisting that all 21 local government areas in Anambra would vote overwhelmingly for APGA. “The fact that Anambra is an APGA state is not in doubt,” he said. “For a state that has produced three governors, two of whom served two eight‑year tenures, it is hard to see how a newly emerged party could defeat APGA in its own stronghold. In Onitsha South LGA, it is 17/17 and 30/30—we are not losing any electoral ward to any other party because it is APGA all the way.”
Similarly, Chairman of Ihiala Local Government Area, Kingsley Obi, addressed the media through his assistant Elvis Okoli. He emphasized that the people of Ihiala have spoken: “It is APGA, and we cannot forget Governor Soludo’s fight against the hoodlums who once held Ihiala LGA by the jugular. This administration has ensured high voter turnout in the last general election, undertaken massive road construction, sanitized the transportation sector, and reduced the activities of touts and revenue thieves. Some individuals seek to create trouble and make Anambra ungovernable by imposing their agents on the State Assembly to distract Soludo’s administration. The people of Anambra will resist on election day by voting only for APGA candidates.”
In a telephone interview, Titus Ijeh, Deputy Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, countered these statements, asserting that only Anambra voters can decide who will lead the state legislature, not “opportune and self‑seeking politicians.” “Nobody is instigating a crisis,” he said. “The people of the state yearn for positive change—a breath of fresh air away from tyranny. APGA is becoming jittery because they see, from the handwriting on the wall, that their days are numbered, and on March 18 the people will respond through the ballot.”
Comments are closed for this story.