The 2021 Anambra State gubernatorial election took place on 6 November 2021, to elect the
Governor of Anambra State
This is a list of administrators and governors of Anambra State.
Anambra State, Nigeria, was formed on 3 February 1976 when East-Central State was divided into Anambra and Imo (Owerri) states.
See also
*States of Nigeria
*List of Nigeri ...
. Incumbent
APGA Governor
Willie Obiano
Willie Obiano (born August 8, 1955) is a Nigerian politician, banker and technocrat. He served as the fourth democratically elected Governor of Anambra State from 17 March 2014 to 17 March 2022.
Early life
Governor Obiano was born at Aguleri, a ...
was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third consecutive term. APGA nominee, former
Central Bank Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo
Charles Chukwuma Soludo , CFR (born 28 July 1960) is a Nigerian politician and economics professor who serves as the fifth democratic Governor of Anambra State since 17 March 2022. Soludo is a former governor and chairman of the board of direc ...
, retained the office for APGA with a 24% win over PDP nominee, former
Transcorp CEO
Valentine Ozigbo.
The primaries were scheduled for between June 10 and July 1, however, ensuing litigation and conflicting court rulings over primary results caused months of uncertainty over the legitimate nominees. In the primaries of the major parties, the APC controversially nominated former Anambra South
Senator Andy Uba in a direct primary (until the primary was annulled in December 2021) while the YPP nominated incumbent Anambra South
Senator Ifeanyi Ubah; the other two major Anambra parties (APGA and PDP) had multiple parallel primaries with later litigation to determine the legitimate nominee. INEC listed Soludo as APGA nominee in August and Ozigbo as PDP nominee in September due to court orders.
The general election was mostly peaceful but faced difficulties with expectedly low turnout, malfunctioning election equipment, and a few voided results, most notably with the election in
Ihiala LGA being cancelled and rescheduled due to irregularities and insecurity. By the night of November 7, Soludo had entered into a large lead of about 52,000 votes over Ozigbo in second; however, the election was declared inconclusive by INEC Returning Officer Florence Obi due to the cancelled election in Ihiala. Ihiala's rescheduled election was set for November 9 with the results being needed before a winner could be declared. After Ihiala voted and it was won by Soludo, INEC declared him the victor in the early morning of November 10. In total, Soludo got over 112,000 votes and 46.5% of the vote as runner-up Ozigbo obtained nearly 54,000 votes and 22.3% of the vote. In third, Uba received over 43,000 votes and 17.9% of the vote while Ubah came fourth with about 21,000 votes and 8.8% of the vote.
The election was the first major election where the
Independent National Electoral Commission
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was established in 1998 and is the electoral body which oversees elections in Nigeria.
History
Regulation and administration of elections
The administration of democratic elections in Nige ...
used the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVA or BVAS) device and transmitted results online with polling unit workers uploading results directly to the INEC results portal. The election was also the first to use new polling units formed by INEC in June 2021. Its results were confirmed as legitimate by observers such as diplomatic missions and nonprofit
YIAGA Africa, which monitored the election and ran
parallel vote tabulation to confirm the accuracy of the released results.
However, third placed Uba (APC) challenged the results and, along with 10 minor candidates, filed challenges at the electoral tribunal.
However, in the weeks afterward, one of the minor candidates withdrew his appeal and Uba's nomination was voided after a court ruled that the APC gubernatorial primary was illegally conducted.
Electoral system
The
Governor of Anambra State
This is a list of administrators and governors of Anambra State.
Anambra State, Nigeria, was formed on 3 February 1976 when East-Central State was divided into Anambra and Imo (Owerri) states.
See also
*States of Nigeria
*List of Nigeri ...
is elected using a modified
two-round system
The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resu ...
. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive the plurality of the vote and over 25% of the vote in at least two-thirds of the state
local government areas
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory.
The phrase i ...
. If no candidate passes this threshold, a second round will be held between the top candidate and the next candidate to have received a plurality of votes in the highest number of local government areas.
Primary elections
The primaries, along with any potential challenges to primary results, were scheduled for between June 10 and July 1. According to an informal zoning
gentlemen's agreement, the Anambra South Senatorial District was set to have the next governor with some parties closing the primaries to non-Southerners while others kept the primary open to all.
According to the
Independent National Electoral Commission
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was established in 1998 and is the electoral body which oversees elections in Nigeria.
History
Regulation and administration of elections
The administration of democratic elections in Nige ...
, 18 parties are fielding candidates with 17 parties holding indirect primaries and 1 party holding a direct primary.
APC
The APC nomination was unofficially zoned to the Anambra South Senatorial District without formally closing the primary to aspirants from the North and Central districts, according to a candidate.
The APC announced that their primary will be held on June 26 with the expression of interest form costing ₦2.5 million and the nomination form costing ₦20 million; a 50% discount would be provided to women candidates and candidates with disabilities. On June 9, the interim leadership of the national
All Progressives Congress appointed a seven-member screening committee to approve the candidates. All 14 candidates were cleared and another seven-member committee was appointed to oversee the primary, led by
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun
Adedapo Oluseun Abiodun (born 29 May 1960) is a Nigerian businessman and politician, who has served as Governor of Ogun State since 2019. He won the 2019 general elections under the platform of the All Progressive Congress. He was the board Cha ...
.
On primary day, reports of a lack of INEC and APC officials at polling units led 11 of the 14 APC candidates along with former Governor and Labour Minister
Chris Ngige
Chris Nwabueze Ngige (born 8 August 1952) is a Nigerian politician and medical doctor. He is the current Minister of Labour and Employment of Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari's administration. He was elected Senator for Anambra Central ...
called for the primary to be postponed to a later date. The 11 candidates claimed that anyone who claimed that the primary was held was committing
electoral fraud. However, on the early morning of June 27, Abiodun announced that
Andy Uba had won the primary by over 200,000 votes.
In the days following the primary, 7 candidates (Moghalu, Orajiaka, Okwuosa, Madu, Nwankwo, and Johnbosco Onunkwo) called for the results to be nullified and threatened to report Abiodun and his committee for announcing false results. In response, the national APC set up a five-member appeal committee led by
Gombe State Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya. When INEC released the list of party nominees on July 16, Uba was listed as the APC nominee."
In October, Moghalu sued the APC, claiming that no primary had taken place and demanding a refund on his nomination form fee. As the judge set the judgment date for December 20, the case was not addressed prior to the election; however, Moghalu's claims received a boost after the general election where Uba received less than 45,000 votes or less than 20% of his supposed primary vote total. On December 20, Judge Inyang Ekwo sided with Moghalu and ruled that the APC gubernatorial primary was illegally conducted, Uba's nomination was void, and that the APC must refund Moghalu's nomination form fee.
A day later, Uba appealed the ruling. This ruling was upheld by an Appeals Court on 23 February 2022 and then by the
Supreme Court on 26 April 2022.
Nominated
*
**
Eliminated in primary
* Chidozie Nwankwo, CEO of the Wichtech Group
* George Moghalu, Managing Director and CEO of the National Inland Waterways Authority
* Paul Orajiaka, CEO of Auldon Limited
* Geoffrey Onyejegbu, retired
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
colonel, former
military attaché to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, architect, and businessman
* Johnbosco Onunkwo, state APC chieftain and
2017 APC gubernatorial candidate
* Amobi Nwokafor, an accountant
* Ben Etiaba, a barrister, brother of PDP candidate Emeka Etiaba, and son of former
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Virginia Etiaba
Dame Virginia Ngozi Etiaba (born 11 November 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as Governor of Anambra State, a state in South-Eastern Nigeria, from November 2006 to February 2007. Etiaba was the first woman to serve as governor of a Nig ...
*
Azuka Okwuosa
Azuka Okwuosa (born 3 November 1959), is a Nigerian politician and engineer who served as the Anambra State Commissioner for Works and Transport from 1999 to 2001. He was a governorship aspirant in the 2021 Anambra State gubernatorial election ...
, former Commissioner for Works and Transport
* Ikeobasi Mokelu, former Minister of Information and Culture
* Godwin Okonkwo, an Anglican Priest
* Edozie Madu, former National Chairman of the Independent Democrats and
2019 ID presidential candidate
* Igwebuike Ifeanyi
* Maxwell Okoye
Results
APGA
Long before the primary in 2019, the APGA National Chairman Victor Ikechukwu Oye announced that the party's gubernatorial nomination would be zoned to the Anambra South Senatorial District, closing the primary to aspirants from the North and Central districts.
APGA announced that their primary will be held on June 23 with the expression of interest form costing ₦2 million and the nomination form costing ₦20 million; a 50% discount would be provided to women candidates and candidates with disabilities. The party planned to screen candidates in mid-June before the primary and to ratify the nominee at a National Working Committee meeting on June 27.
On June 14, the APGA screening committee announced that four candidates (Soludo, Okolo, Ibe, and Ezenwankwo) were cleared to complete in the primary along with five candidates who were not allowed to run (Ozoka, Okafor, Umeoji, and Nwankpo). However, the next day, the Jude Okeke-led faction of the national APGA intervened by moving the primary to July 1 and declaring the disqualifications null and void. The Victor Oye-led faction of the national APGA continued to state that the previous disqualifications still in place and, after INEC threatened to strike the party from the ballot, maintained that the primary would take place on its original date of June 23. Earlier on June 23, the Okeke-led faction attempted to suspend Soludo from the party, however, the primary went ahead at the Prof. Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre,
Awka
Awka () is the capital city of Anambra State, Nigeria. The city was declared capital on 21 August 1991, after the creation of Anambra and Enugu state, which moved the capital from Enugu to Awka (an administrative center since pre.-colonial times). ...
with INEC observers present and Soludo emerging as the party nominee. Incumbent Governor
Willie Obiano
Willie Obiano (born August 8, 1955) is a Nigerian politician, banker and technocrat. He served as the fourth democratically elected Governor of Anambra State from 17 March 2014 to 17 March 2022.
Early life
Governor Obiano was born at Aguleri, a ...
thanked party delegates and congratulated Soludo making it clear that he supported the June 23 primary, however, the conduct of the Okeke-led faction cast considerable doubt upon the acceptance of the primary across wings of the party.
The next day after the primary, on June 24, reports stated that INEC had disqualified APGA from the election because the party failed to notify the Commission of the party congress to elect delegates for the primary. INEC National Commissioner in charge of Publicity and Voter Education Festus Okoye had previously stated that the lack of notification violated the Electoral Act 2010, however, later that day, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman Rotimi Oyekanmi claimed that APGA had not been disqualified and that reporters were misinterpreting Okoye's letter to APGA. Oyekanmi also said that the Commission did not recognize the Okeke faction or its suspension of Soludo, stating that the members of APGA leadership were on the INEC website and had not changed.
However, on June 1, the Delta State High Court ruled in favour of the Okeke faction's primaries, throwing the APGA into further chaos as Soludo had just picked Onyekachukwu Ibezim as his running mate. Later that day, the Okeke faction held their primary on their rescheduled July 1 date having cleared
Chukwuma Umeoji and Nweke Chinyere Elizabeth as candidates the day before. Umeoji easily won with 904 votes to Elizabeth's 73 votes. A third faction, led by Edozie Njoku, had nominated Njoku himself as their APGA factional nominee, however, a Federal High Court in
Awka
Awka () is the capital city of Anambra State, Nigeria. The city was declared capital on 21 August 1991, after the creation of Anambra and Enugu state, which moved the capital from Enugu to Awka (an administrative center since pre.-colonial times). ...
refused to recognize Njoku as APGA National Chairman and thus ending his faction's claim to the ticket.
When INEC released the list of party nominees on July 16, Umeoji was listed as APGA nominee with the note "COURT ORDER."
In Umeoji's victory speech, he thanked Okoye and pledged to work with Soludo and Obiano. On the other hand, Soludo vowed to sue, stating "I will be the candidate of APGA in the election," while Oye called INEC's acceptance of Umeoji "an embarrassment to Nigeria as a nation and its leaders."
In the weeks following the INEC list release, various courts issued conflicting rulings on the legitimate nominee and/or party leadership; due to this crisis, Obiano set up a Peace, Reconciliation and Outreach Committee to resolve the dispute within the party.
On August 6, the final day for nomination form submission, INEC accepted forms naming Umeoji as APGA nominee, appearing to end Soludo's hopes. However, on August 20, INEC named Soludo as APGA nominee in accordance with a Court of Appeal (Kano Division) ruling that overruled the Jigawa High Court validation of the Okeke faction.
Nominated
*
Charles Chukwuma Soludo
Charles Chukwuma Soludo , CFR (born 28 July 1960) is a Nigerian politician and economics professor who serves as the fifth democratic Governor of Anambra State since 17 March 2022. Soludo is a former governor and chairman of the board of direc ...
, former
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
** Running mate: Onyekachukwu Ibezim, doctor, Special Adviser to Governor Obiano on Indigenous Medicine and Herbal Practice, and the Executive Director of ANSACA
Eliminated in June 23 primary
* Damian Chibuzor Okolo, a barrister
* ThankGod Christopher Ibe, Deputy Chairman of
Lagos State
Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 states, it is both the most populous and smallest in area. Bounded to the south by the Bight of Benin and to the west by the international border with Ben ...
APGA
* Christopher Okwudili Ezenwankwo, federal
Representative
Representative may refer to:
Politics
* Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people
* House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities
* Legislator, som ...
for Orumba North/South and former Chairman of the Anambra State Markets Traders Association
Rejected by screening committee
*
Chukwuma Michael Umeoji (rejected for inconsistent age declaration, insubordination to party leadership, and doubts about the finances of his nominators), federal
Representative
Representative may refer to:
Politics
* Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people
* House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities
* Legislator, som ...
for Aguata
* Ifeanyi Odera Ozoka (rejected for being a party member for less than 18 months and for being registered to vote in the
FCT)
* Nonso Smart Okafor (rejected for insubordination to party leadership), member of the
Anambra State House of Assembly for Nnewi North
* Cater Dike Umeh (rejected for insubordination to party leadership), member of the
Anambra State House of Assembly for Aguata I
*
Akachukwu Sullivan Nwankpo
Akachukwu Sullivan Nwankpo (born 10 April 1962) is a Nigerian politician, Igbo political leader and peace-maker. He served as the Special Advisor on Technical Matters to President Goodluck Jonathan and Secretary/Member of the Presidential Sub ...
(rejected for being a party member for less than 18 months), former advisor to President
Goodluck Jonathan
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...
Results
=By local government area
=
PDP
The PDP did not zone their nomination to the Anambra South Senatorial District, leading 12 Southern candidates to sign a joint communique calling for the nomination to go to one of them instead of their Central and Northern opponents.
On May 26, Eagle-Badger Consulting released a straw poll of PDP delegates that showed 62% support for zoning the PDP governorship nomination to Anambra South, along with a question asking respondents to name three aspirants who they thought could win the election: the three names mentioned most frequently were
Valentine Ozigbo (49.63%),
Uche Ekwunife
Uche Lilian Ekwunife (née Ogudebe born 12 January 1970), is a Nigerian politician, and member of the 9th Nigerian Senate representing the people of Anambra Central Senatorial District of Anambra State and she is known as one of the most active f ...
(15.63%), and
Obiora Okonkwo (12.66%).
The PDP announced that their primary will be held on June 26 with the expression of interest form costing ₦1 million and the nomination form costing ₦20 million. The national
Peoples Democratic Party appointed a screening committee to approve the candidates and on April 30, the committee announced that all 16 candidates had been approved to run.
On June 9, an Abuja Federal High Court removed the Anambra PDP Executive after weeks of internal party conflict and ordered the PDP to use alternate delegates. Party chieftains sued to stay the implementation of the judgment until the appeal was decided, however, the court turned down the application on June 25 and nullified all actions taken by the PDP Executive after the June 9 ruling including the delegate congress on June 10 and 11. The National PDP dissolved all Anambra party executives after the court ruling, but did not indicate that they would use alternate delegates with party spokesperson Kola Ologbondiyan writing "our processes towards electing a candidate for the November 6, 2021 Anambra governorship election subsists."
On primary day, the Chukwudi Umeaba-led faction of the Anambra PDP held a parallel primary at the Paul University Complex as the Ndubuisi Nwobu-led faction and national PDP-sanctioned primary took place at the Prof. Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre,
Awka
Awka () is the capital city of Anambra State, Nigeria. The city was declared capital on 21 August 1991, after the creation of Anambra and Enugu state, which moved the capital from Enugu to Awka (an administrative center since pre.-colonial times). ...
. Disputes over the 229 “automatic” delegate list presented by the
PDP National Working Committee led to the withdrawals of candidates
Tony Nwoye and Emeka Etiaba prior to the count while Ologbondiyan claimed the new list was needed to be in compliance with the court ruling.
The Women Development Centre primary ended in a victory for
Valentine Ozigbo while the parallel primary at the Paul University Complex ended in a victory for Ugochukwu Uba.
In response to the controversy, the national PDP set up an appeal committee with former Katsina Central Senator and PDP National Secretary
Umaru Ibrahim Tsauri as secretary. On July 1, PDP National Chairman
Uche Secondus presented the certificate of return to Ozigbo. On July 5, a High Court temporarily stayed the recognition of Ozigbo as the PDP nominee due to a challenge from Ugochukwu Uba.
On July 16, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory ordered INEC not to publish the name of the PDP nominee, denying a motion from Ozigbo to be swiftly declared as nominee. In accordance with the court order, when INEC published the list of party nominees later that day, the PDP line was left blank.
After the ruling, PDP National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan told a reporter, "For us in the
ationalPDP, we have a candidate for the Anambra State governorship election in the person of Valentine Ozigbo."
After nearly two months of court battles, INEC finally named Ozigbo as the rightful PDP nominee on September 10 based on "two judgments of the Court of Appeal (Awka Judicial Division)."
Nominated
*
Valentine Ozigbo, former President and CEO of
Transcorp
**Running mate: Lilian Enemo
Eliminated in primaries
*
Godwin Maduka, a doctor and businessman
* Genevieve Ekwochi, former Commissioner for Women Affairs
* Obiora Okonkwo, owner and Executive Chairman of
United Nigeria Airlines
* Chidi Onyemelukwe, former special assistant to President
Goodluck Jonathan
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...
on
SMEs,
2017 PDP deputy gubernatorial nominee, and daughter of former
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
Alex Ekwueme
Alexander Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme (21 October 1932 – 19 November 2017) was the first elected Vice President of Nigeria from 1979 to 1983 during the Second Nigerian Republic serving under President Shehu Shagari as a member of the National Pe ...
*
Uche Ekwunife
Uche Lilian Ekwunife (née Ogudebe born 12 January 1970), is a Nigerian politician, and member of the 9th Nigerian Senate representing the people of Anambra Central Senatorial District of Anambra State and she is known as one of the most active f ...
,
Senator for
Anambra Central
* Chris Azubogu, federal
Representative
Representative may refer to:
Politics
* Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people
* House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities
* Legislator, som ...
for Nnewi North/South/Ekwusigo
* Winston Udeh, a lawyer and businessman
* Walter Ubaka Okeke, a businessman and oil magnate
Participated in invalid primaries
*
Godwin Ezeemo
Godwin Chukwunaenye Ezeemo (born 1954) is a Nigerian
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was ...
, businessman,
2010 ACN gubernatorial candidate, and
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
and
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
PPA nominee
* Johnny Maduafokwa, Director at Tecon Oil Services
* Ifedi Okwenna, former Commissioner for Environment and former Special Assistant to former President
Olusegun Obasanjo
Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its presid ...
* Ugochukwu Uba, former
Senator for Anambra North and brother of APC candidate
Andy Uba
Withdrew
*
Tony Nwoye, former federal
Representative
Representative may refer to:
Politics
* Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people
* House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities
* Legislator, som ...
for Anambra East/West, former PDP state chairman,
2013 PDP gubernatorial nominee, and
2017 APC gubernatorial nominee
* Emeka Etiaba, a barrister, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, brother of APC candidate Ben Etiaba, and son of former
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Virginia Etiaba
Dame Virginia Ngozi Etiaba (born 11 November 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as Governor of Anambra State, a state in South-Eastern Nigeria, from November 2006 to February 2007. Etiaba was the first woman to serve as governor of a Nig ...
* Chuma Nzeribe, former security adviser to Governor
Chinwoke Mbadinuju
Results
YPP
Nominated
*
Ifeanyi Ubah
Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah (born 3 September 1971), is a Nigerian Politician, entrepreneur and businessman currently serving as Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District in the Nigerian senate. He is the CEO of Capital Oil (CCO), which ...
,
Senator for Anambra South
**Running mate: Okechukwu Eze, doctor
Results
Ubah was nominated by acclamation in an uncontested primary before being cleared to run by the national YPP leadership.
Minor parties
Nominees
*
Godwin Maduka (
Accord)
**Running mate: Obi Kenneth Ifeatu
* Ben Etiaba (
Action Alliance
This is list of political parties in Nigeria.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria has a multi-party system. The largest by National Assembly seats are the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP). There are also a numbe ...
)
**Running mate: Regina Uchebo
* Chidozie Nwankwo (
African Action Congress)
**Running mate: Chinwe Nwaebili
*
Akachukwu Sullivan Nwankpo
Akachukwu Sullivan Nwankpo (born 10 April 1962) is a Nigerian politician, Igbo political leader and peace-maker. He served as the Special Advisor on Technical Matters to President Goodluck Jonathan and Secretary/Member of the Presidential Sub ...
(
African Democratic Congress)
**Running mate: Lawrence Ughamadu
* Afam Ume-Ezeoke (
Action Democratic Party)
**Running mate: Maxwell Chukwujama
* Geoffrey Onyejegbu (
Allied Peoples Movement
Allied Peoples Movement (APM) is a registered political party in Nigeria. The party was registered as a political party by the Independent National Electoral Commission in August, 2018.
The party endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari
Muhammadu B ...
)
**Running mate: Chinwe Onuorah
* Azubuike Echetebu (
Action Peoples Party
This is list of political parties in Nigeria.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria has a multi-party system. The largest by National Assembly seats are the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP). There are also a numbe ...
)
**Running mate: Ogbonna Jonathan Vinatus Nnabike
* Chika Jerry Okeke (Boot Party)
**Running mate: Chika Juliet Adibe
* Obiora Agbasimalo (
Labour Party)
**Running mate: Muokwue Chinedu Peter
* Leonard Emeka Ohajimkpo (
New Nigeria Peoples Party
This is list of political parties in Nigeria.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria has a multi-party system. The largest by National Assembly seats are the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP). There are also a numbe ...
)
**Running mate: Nwude Henrietta Ebelechuwu
* Afam Ezenwaofor (
National Rescue Movement
This is list of political parties in Nigeria.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria has a multi-party system. The largest by National Assembly seats are the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP). There are also a numbe ...
)
**Running mate: Nzube Ojukwu
* Nnamdi Nwawuo (
People's Redemption Party
The People's Redemption Party is a social democratic political party in Nigeria. The Second Republic reincarnation of the Northern Elements Progressive Union and the Fourth Republican reincarnation of a similar namesake, the party was create ...
)
**Running mate: Gozie Igbo
* Obinna Uzoh (
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
)
**Running mate: Chira Obiora
* Obiora Okonkwo (
Zenith Labour Party
This is list of political parties in Nigeria.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria has a multi-party system. The largest by National Assembly seats are the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP). There are also a n ...
)
**Running mate: Jessie Balonwu
Campaign
After primaries and the ensuing litigation came to an end from July to September 2021, the general election campaign began; journalists noted that the campaign was quite muted in comparison to previous campaigns by September. Potential causes for this delay were seen as insecurity, suspected election fraud, and other issues. However, parties and nominees continued to trade jabs throughout the delay in open campaigning, with the APC and PRP exchanging press releases about an alleged APC election rigging plot while APGA nominee Soludo attacked his opponents for their lack of higher educational attainment.
On Tuesday, the 13th of October 2021, Gunmen invaded the location of an All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, rally at Odoata Central School Field in Ihiala, engaging security officers in Governor Willie Obiano's convoy in a one-hour gunfight.
Although a soldier was shot during the shootout, there were unsubstantiated allegations that six civilians were killed and several others were injured. The attackers were said to be from Mgbidi in Imo State, which shares a local government with Ihiala in Anambra State.
According to an earthsound report, APGA was preparing to host a political gathering in the region when gunmen stormed the venue while preparations were still underway and began firing, adding that the firing began as the governor arrived with his convoy, prompting his security details to resist the attackers.
Conduct
Pre-election
On May 24, 2021, gunmen burned down the state headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission amidst a rise in attacks on INEC offices nationwide. In August 2021, INEC Chairman and National Commissioner in charge of Publicity and Voter Education Festus Okoye revealed that half of the non-sensitive materials pre-delivered for the administrative tasks of the election were destroyed in the May attack.
As the election neared, INEC started announcing its preparations with Festus Okoye stating, in September 2021, the intention to deploy at least 25,000 INEC officials on election day. As further preparations were announced, the planned storage of non-sensitive materials in the INEC zonal office in
Owerri
Owerri ( , ) is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland. It is also the state's largest city, followed by Orlu, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas including Owerri Municipal, ...
,
Imo State caused controversy. The PDP, YPP, and APGA questioned the decision to store materials in a state with an APC governor but INEC stated that the materials could not be stored in Anambra due to the May attack on INEC state headquarters; however, INEC eventually backtracked. Other INEC plans were less controversial, such as the planned use of the new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) device after it was successfully tested during the
Isoko South I Delta State Constituency by-election two months before Anambra election day.
Concerns were also raised about the activities of the
Indigenous People of Biafra
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is a nationalist separatist group in Nigeria that aims to restore the Republic of Biafra, a country which seceded from Nigeria prior to the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) and later rejoined Nigeria after i ...
, a separatist group enforcing stay-at-home orders throughout the
Southeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
. The
Centre for Democracy and Development
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) was established in the United Kingdom in 1997 and subsequently registered in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1999. The organization aims to promote the values of democracy, peace and human rights in Africa, ...
warned that the stay-at-home orders and the potential of IPOB violence against people dismissing the order could lead to low turnout and electoral violence. IPOB canceled its stay-at-home order two days before the election. The CDD also warned about mass misinformation campaign to target and deceive voters.
Other questions around election administration included the ability for INEC to provide proper arrangements for riverine communities and potential threats that could drive down voter turnout from both IPOB and "unknown gunman."
Election Day
On election day, voting was mostly peaceful but was beset with BVAs malfunctioning in some polling units leading INEC to extend voting hours, first by 90 minutes before allowing voting in certain polling units to continue on 7 November. There were also some observer reports of vote-buying as party agents were seen handing out cash to voters at certain polling units. Despite the mostly peaceful elections, there were a few reports of ballot-snatching and most notably, the
Orumba North LGA Collation Officer saying that he was tear-gassed and forced to sign the LGA results sheet under duress along with the election in
Ihiala LGA being canceled and rescheduled for November 13 due to irregularities (allegedly a foiled election rigging plot).
In the days after the election, election observation groups
YIAGA Africa and
CDD West Africa, announced some initial observations from the election on November 6 including that the election was mostly peaceful, however, there were some instances of intimidation, harassment, and violence (especially towards women) at polling units. Another concern was logistics as YIAGA noted that 21 percent of polling units failed to open before noon and in 5 percent of polling units, malfunctioning election equipment was not fixed or replaced.
CDD noted the widespread and open practice of vote-buying and recommended that INEC and security agencies take measures to address the issues before the
2023 general election.
The election was declared inconclusive by INEC Returning Officer, Florence Obi, with results showing Soludo in the lead but without any votes from Ihiala; the election in
Ihiala LGA was confirmed to be canceled but the rescheduled date was moved from November 13 to November 9. While as the Orumba North Collation Officer report was contested by some party agents and another INEC official, an INEC panel was formed to decide on the results; the panel declared that despite some irregularities, much of the results sheet was valid and allowed the totals.
When the Ihiala supplementary election held, there were again reports of late INEC officials along with a three-hour long battle between police and gunman which disrupted voting in two communities. Despite this incident, most of the LGA was able to hold elections and in the early morning of November 10, Obi declared Soludo the winner as Ihiala's votes did not make up the difference for either Ozigbo or Uba.
General election
Results
By local government area
The results of the election by local government area for the major parties.
Notes
Response
As LGA results began to show signs of a large Soludo win, the Anambra APC Chairman Basil Ejidike accused Obiano and the APGA of rigging the election before later denying the comment while still casting doubts on the election's credibility. On the other hand, APGA refuted Ejidike's original statement and praised President Buhari for giving INEC the independence to hold a fair election. After the full results were released on November 10, Soludo declared victory and thanked his supporters for their work. On the same day, Ubah and Ozigbo both conceded and congratulated Soludo, although in Ozigbo's concession, he criticized INEC incompetence and accused Obiano's administration of using state funds to boost APGA. For the APC, President
Muhammadu Buhari
Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015.
Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 A ...
along with Labour and Employment Minister and former Anambra Governor
Chris Ngige
Chris Nwabueze Ngige (born 8 August 1952) is a Nigerian politician and medical doctor. He is the current Minister of Labour and Employment of Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari's administration. He was elected Senator for Anambra Central ...
congratulated Soludo, but nominee Uba rejected the results with claims of fraud and collusion between the Obiano administration, INEC, and security forces.
On November 8, nonprofit
YIAGA Africa, which monitored the election and ran
parallel vote tabulation, stated that PVT had verified the accuracy of INEC's released results in the 20 LGAs were the election was held as the released totals for the four major candidates fell well within the ranges estimated by PVT. YIAGA stated that the INEC's turnout and rejected ballot numbers were in estimated ranges as well.
A similar sentiment was expressed by
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
diplomatic missions which said that the final results reflected the will of the people and praised INEC along with security forces for their credible election.
Litigation
In late November 2021, the first litigation surrounding the general election to be ruled upon was a disqualification lawsuit against Soludo and Ibezim claiming that Soludo had provided false forms to INEC and thus should be disqualified from the election; on 2 December, the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed the lawsuit as frivolous and fined the two plaintiffs ₦2 million for wasting judicial time and attempting to undermine democracy.
In the electoral tribunal, eleven political parties and their candidates filed petitions prior to the deadline for challenging results. Among these challenges include the
Action Democratic Party citing BVAS failure as grounds for election annulment,
Accord citing irregularities as grounds for annulment, and the
APC claiming its nominee Uba won the election while the
United Patriots
The United Patriots (OP; bg, Обединени Патриоти; ОП, translit=Obedineni Patrioti; OP) was a nationalist electoral alliance in Bulgaria formed by three political parties: IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement (IMRO), Attack (unt ...
challenged the election based on their exclusion from the ballot and several other parties filed their own challenges.
However,
Accord swiftly withdrew its petition while Uba's nomination was ruled to be void by a Federal High Court.
National effect
As the only 2021 Nigerian gubernatorial election, Anambra's results dictate the overall position of parties' gubernatorial wings. After the defections of
Cross River State Governor Benedict Ayade
Ayade Benedict Bengiuoshuye CON was born on the 2nd of March, 1968 and hails from Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State.
He holds a B.Sc., LLB, BL, M.Sc., MBA, LLM and a Ph.D. He bagged his PhD at a tender age of 26 from the prest ...
and
Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle to the APC in 2021, the PDP held 13 governorships and the APC held 22 governorships with Anambra being APGA's only governorship. As APGA nominee
Charles Chukwuma Soludo
Charles Chukwuma Soludo , CFR (born 28 July 1960) is a Nigerian politician and economics professor who serves as the fifth democratic Governor of Anambra State since 17 March 2022. Soludo is a former governor and chairman of the board of direc ...
retained the Anambra governorship for APGA, there was no net change in overall party control of governorships.
Results summary
Notes
References
{{Authority control
Anambra State gubernatorial election
Anambra State gubernatorial election
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...