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Anambra ’25: How Soludo’s attempt to avenge Tinubu’s 2023 humiliation failed
By Sunny Igboanugo
No crime is perfect. No matter how flawlessly planned or watertight a crime is or how thoroughly executed, criminals always leave one trace or two or even more. There is always a slip that a good investigator looks out for to crack a case no matter how tough.
The November 8, Anambra state governorship election, met all elements of a carefully-planned and thoroughly executed electoral fraud. Yes! That’s what it was or is – a fraud – a heist. But I must give it to them. All those who took part in it played their roles perfectly.
But then – the slip! It came from Unit 008 Agulu Ward in Anaocha Local Government Area, the polling booth of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), in the February 25, 2023 election.
In many cases, such slips are usually the result of an innocuous action – one second of thoughtlessness – one word out of sync – an emotional outburst – or just one careless move – then everything comes crumbling.
In the instant case, nobody, except those who planned it, would probably explain how such a thoughtless decision came about. Mind you, I wasn’t just an observer, I was a participant observer. I was the Director of Media and Publicity of the John Chuma Nwosu (JCN) Campaign Council of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). So, I was in the locus in quo – or as Bishop Kukah would say – the scene of the crime.
So, long before the election, I was aware about the plot. Words had filtered in about how Charles Chukwuma Soludo, the governor wanted to “disgrace” Obi in Agulu. My conclusion was that he was billed to capturing the ward for himself to score a political point, using his own winning template.
Alas! How was I to know that he planned to donate the trophy to the APC? But in that singular move lies the singular factor that cast a question mark on the credibility of the entire process. It ruined what would have been and iron-cast case. For even a complete imbecile knows that the outcome is a clearly electoral impossibility!
Were there some thinking members within their camp, they ought to have known that the public would be asking what had changed so soon after in an atmosphere where the same Peter Obi, won virtually 100 per cent of the votes cast in the same unit in 2023? What sins did he commit in just two years that made his people now hate him such that they were so intent on punishing him?
Soludo and his minders never supplied information as to how the APC performed the feat. Yes! For the governor, it would have been part of the effect of turning communities in Anambra into the new African haven, surpassing the Dubai-Taiwan he promised the people. But a lowly political figure like Nicholas Ukachukwu, the question is – quo warranto? On what authority?
But, you didn’t need be a political genius or mathematician to figure it out. Even someone struck with Mongolian idiocy disease could put two and two together to determine what happened. It was a clear expression of how the nation’s electoral process has been captured – how the huge edifice that was the election architecture has now crumbled from the moment Mahmoud Yakubu, the now disgraced former INEC Chairman practically threw a dynamite at the foundation with his IReV glitches episode.
Since that notorious February 25, 2023 affair, which produced Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President, the nation’s electoral process has continued to sink deeper at every turn beginning with the governorship election of March 18 after the presidential polls.
You could see the effect in the Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa edition some eight months after on November 11, that year, where the governors swept the polls regardless the readings of the political barometres in their states.
You heard in Kogi, how prepared results were either in the hands of agents of the ruling party or already being uploaded on IReV hours before the elections were held. The world was also regaled with video evidence of how APC almost captured 100 per cent votes in Imo with its 27-27 electoral feat. Of course, the Edo edition on September 21, last year, is there to confirm the new template.
So, when Soludo came with his 21-21 edition, only the non-initiate, perhaps somewhere from the outer space would be enamoured. The amusing aspect of the outcome, if not the tragic, depending the way you look at it is the absolute lack of emotional intelligence in managing the outcome.
Pray! What was the need for the Agulu ward show? To humiliate Obi or to get a pound of flesh for Tinubu? It would have been a different kettle of fish if APGA, Soludo’s party had won it. In that case, it would have been excused as part of the tsunami of an incumbent. But Ukachukwu of APC? From whence did he produce the genie capable of creating such magic?
Did he sink a water facility and reticulated the pipes supplying each household in Agulu with free water overnight?
If anything, the last time I checked, it was the selfsame Obi that donated a whopping N90million an two INNOSON vehicles for the security of the same community that now decided to “disgrace” him. Was the so-called disgrace their way saying thank you for such a bold step towards their security and welfare. These Agulu people must be the perfect example of current day Brutus, whose dagger-blow ended it for Julius Caesar.
But you must be a clear simpleton not get the drift. What just happened in Anambra is no different from the Kogi, Imo, Bayelsa and most recently, Edo. It is a situation where INEC simply hands over the electoral machinery and organs to whosoever they favoured, ostensibly based on the direct orders or body language of the powers that be.
It is then the remit of the assignee, mostly favoured governors, to determine who wins where and with what margin. Then, you find that in virtually all the cases and typical of what happens in the local government elections which they conduct, they go for the total kill, taking no prisoners.
So, obviously Soludo’s winning streak, was no magic. It came from the same gift bag as others before him. So, as in other cases, it was his choice to decide where to win and with what margin. That was what was demonstrated at Agulu. He simply dashed the unit to APC as with a pack of candies.
But only that in doing so, he practically spilled the beans. Or how else would he not have known that he practically exposed what ought to have been hidden and shot himself in the foot by so doing. But what could you say of someone so desperate.
Since Obi defeated Tinubu roundly in Lagos in the last presidential election, the camp of the President has remained implacable. All the onslaughts mounted against the former governor within the APC and those eager to please him, have their roots substantially from this.
Ostensibly, Soludo must have keyed into the prevailing sentiments. Either he promised it as part of the bargains he signed into during his in and out movement at the Presidential Villa or it was a solo effort, the Agulu show, must have been a move to assuage the Villa or is it Bourdillon now?
Incidentally, the way it was celebrated by the media, obviously part of the plot – procured to trumpet it to the world with such screaming headlines – Obi loses his ward – and the manner Soludo himself made a song and dance about it, one thing is sure – there is more to come from that November 8 outcome.
You could be sure that was a dress-rehearsal. If Obi manages to find himself on the ballot in 2027, he is probably going to lose not only Anambra, but the same Agulu. Of course the ample explanation would be obvious – he has lost it before.
Guess who would be there not only to ensure, but explain it – Your Charles Chukwuma Soludo – Charlie Nwa Mgbafo. As for the peoples’ will – your guess! It’s called State Capture! Tragedy!
My name is Sunny Igboanugo, I’m the Tiny Voice!
Jim Ovia, one month after exit as Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, is lunging into the real estate business, in search of the “mega bucks,” with the price tag of one of his first proposed luxury apartments in Lagos put at $2.8million (N3.8billion).
The iconic banker and largest shareholder of the bank reputed to be the biggest in Nigeria, with branches spreading across Africa and beyond, was quoted in a report on ARISE NEWS Television as saying that the property sector offered better returns than banking.
The report said the 74-year-old would commence with the Quantum Luxury Properties Ltd. – a two high-end residential projects in Lagos – housing a 26-storey Metropolitan Towers, with an expected unit price starting from $1.85 million, and the 44-unit Quantum Luxury Towers, going as high as $2.8 million starting price.
The accomplished banker, who left his post as Chairman after a 12-year-two-term stint allowable by law was said to have unveiled the plan during an interaction at his office at Civic Towers in Lagos.
There, Ovia reportedly told his visitors that both projects were already attracting strong interest from buyers and had already recorded significant sales, adding: “Real estate is more profitable than banking. I’m moving into real estate full-time.”
The report, while citing trends in the luxury property market in Nigeria’s main commercial centre now known as a mega city, maintained that it had continued to attract wealthy investors seeking protection from inflation, currency depreciation and limited investment alternatives, also quoted experts in the industry to back up the assertion.
Citing the confirmation of Diya Fatimilehin & Co., Nigeria’s foremost estate surveying firm, the report stated that rental prices in Lagos’ luxury districts of Banana Island, Ikoyi and Victoria Island rose by 51 per cent between 2024 and 2025, reinforcing demand for premium real estate.
It however quoted Jubril Enakele, Chief Executive Officer of IRON Capital Partners and a former executive within Zenith’s investment banking operations, as saying that Ovia’s interest in the sector predates his latest move.
“Mr. Ovia’s interest in real estate started much earlier than just now,” Enakele was quoted as saying, adding that the focus on design, infrastructure and asset quality of the retired banker had long been evident in projects associated with the banker.
Ovia stepped down as chairman of Zenith Bank on May 5 after completing the maximum 12-year tenure allowed by regulators. While he remains the bank’s largest individual shareholder, his departure marks the end of a leadership era at the institution he founded in 1990 with an initial capital base of about ₦20 million.
Under his leadership, Zenith Bank grew into Nigeria’s largest lender by market value and one of the country’s most profitable financial institutions. The bank recorded profits exceeding ₦1 trillion in both 2024 and 2025.
Beyond banking, Ovia has built a portfolio of investments that includes Civic Centre and Civic Towers in Lagos, the sale of Visafone to MTN Group, and an early investment in Moniepoint.
“The most disturbing aspect of the financial management fiasco under Bola Tinubu is that there is no explanation or information regarding how the balance was utilised or deployed.”
These were the exact words with which Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2027 presidential election bemoaned the umpteenth time, the penchant of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to embark on inexplicably, reckless borrowing.
Obi, who had been consistent in questioning the hunger for foreign loans by the government of the All Progressives Congress (APC), right from the years of President Muhammadu Buhari, was aghast that the incumbent, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had surpassed the previous government without anything to show for it.
Using his X platform, Obi, who bemoaned the situation where Nigeria’s total public debt had bloated to about N200 trillion under Tinubu’s administration, representing an increase of more than N100 trillion within three years, demanded explanations for what he called the government’s lack of transparency in the utilisation of the borrowed funds.
Stressing how the Tinubu’s accumulated debt had significantly outstripped that of Buhari, the former Governor of Anambra State, lamented that the current debt burden had become a major concern for Nigerians already struggling with economic hardship, inflation and declining purchasing power.
Hear him: “President Bola Tinubu’s administration has engaged in remarkably imprudent borrowing, escalating Nigeria’s total debt to approximately N200 trillion.
“This represents an increase of over N100 trillion within a mere three years, a stark contrast to the roughly N49 trillion accumulated during President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year tenure.
“As millions of Nigerians grapple with the shock of this unsustainable debt accumulation, the situation is exacerbated by the government’s reckless approach to borrowing and a profound absence of accountability and transparency in the utilisation of these funds.”
Citing figures from the Federation’s Budget Office, claiming that the federal government borrowed N11.89 trillion between January and September 2025, exceeding its planned borrowing target of N10.34 trillion for the period, he argued that such an overrun should ordinarily trigger scrutiny and explanations from relevant government institutions.
He contended that only N3.10 trillion of the borrowed funds was committed to capital projects during the same period, representing what he described as a small fraction of the amount budgeted for infrastructure and development programmes, adding that the discrepancy between the volume of borrowing and actual capital expenditure raises serious questions about the destination and utilisation of the funds.
Challenging the government to provide a detailed account of the spending of the funds, insisting that Nigerians deserved full disclosure on how public resources were being managed, he said: “The question that Nigerians are rightly asking and deserve an answer to is what happened to the balance?”
Adewole Adebayo, candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), in the 2027 presidential election has raised the red-light signal, warning Nigerians to be up in arms against the proposals for a single six-year presidential term at the National Assembly.
Warning that the move was not only a distraction from the country’s more pressing challenges, but could portend a sinister outcome in future, the lawyer and economist, who appeared as a guest on ARISE NEWS Television on Wednesday, insisted that electoral integrity and effective governance should be Nigeria’s primary focus.
He told his host that the real issue confronting Nigeria was not the length of time elected officials spent in office, but whether leaders emerged through free, fair, and credible elections that truly reflect the will of the people.
Hints to the new proposal was served through Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate Leader who said he had plans to sponsor a bill seeking to introduce a single six-year tenure for presidents and governors, to enable elected officials focus more on governance rather than re-election campaigns.
But joining other Nigerian’s suspicious of the move as a red flag, Adebayo said: “It’s a distraction. These are all idle talks. A six-year term, a four-year term—that’s not the problem. The problem is that you have to have a system that works.
“You have to have a political system where the voter decides the winner, where nobody watches INEC as if you are watching a secret society, and where political parties raise ideas and raise new people. So, my focus, as we are heading towards the future, is that we must, once and for all, kill the demon of rigged elections. We must, once and for all, allow the voter to vote. So, the issue of how long you stay in power and all of that is irrelevant; it’s what you do when you get there.
“I think the present system of four years – and if you are good enough, you go for another four years – is good enough if the people who are actually going to the government are going there only by winning a free, fair, and credible election. We should focus on that now.”
It was also a day he cried out about the attempts of fifth columnists to introduce crisis into the party, citing the parallel presidential candidates within the SDP, which he said was sponsored, adding that genuine members were unperturbed by the development.
Hear him: “We are not bothered by that. It’s the normal staple. So, I think the burden is on INEC to try not to waste its time on that and to follow the law. What we can have is a set of political parties competing on a set of ideas, and the media moderating for all of us so that we can have equal hearing. Then, Nigerians can now decide to lay their bed the way they want to lay on it when the time comes.”
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