BEVERLY HILLS, February 21, (THEWILL) – Still basking in the euphoria of its success in the two off-season governorship elections held in Edo and Ondo states last year, the Independent National Electoral Commission has fixed the Anambra governorship election for Saturday November 6, 2021.
Anambra election is the only major election scheduled for this year and it is going to be followed by Ekiti and Osun State governorship Elections next year.
INEC which for the first time uploaded results from the polling units to its server during the Edo and Ondo elections has promised to introduce more electronic usage in the Anambra election.
As INEC is getting set and having an early preparation for the Anambra election, political parties in the state will also get busy in the coming days as INEC has equally announced that party’s primaries and resolution of disputes arising from the primaries would take place between June 10 and July 1.
On the part of governorship aspirants, they have emerged and are still emerging in high numbers. Political watchers and analysts in the state said they number up to 30.
Out of this high figure, THEWILL has shieved the contenders from the pretenders and six names come up. They are former Nigeria Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Charles Soludo; Senator Ifeanyi Ubah ; Hon. Uche Ekwunife; Hon. Tony Nwoye ; Godwin Maduka and Dr George Moghalu.
CHARLES SOLUDO
Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR was born on July 28, 1960 . He is an economics professor and a former governor and chairman of the board of directors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He is also a member of the British Department for International Development’s International Advisory Group. He obtained his three degrees and then professorship at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu State.
Soludo graduated with a First Class Honours degree in 1984, an MSc Economics in 1987, and a PhD in 1989, winning prizes for the best student at all three levels.
On September 16, 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari, appointed Soludo as a member of a newly formed 8-member Economic Advisory Council (EAC) which would report directly to the president.
Soludo has in the past made efforts to be governor of Anambra State both on the platform of the PDP and APGA with no success.
PATRICK IFEANYI UBAH
Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah was born on September 3, 1971 . Ubah is a businessman, entrepreneur and currently a senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District in the Senate having won election on the platform of Young Progressive Party, (YPP) .
In 2001, he founded Capital Oil and Gas Limited. He is the founder of The Authority newspaper, a Nigerian daily newspaper and also the owner of Ifeanyi Ubah F.C., a football club in the Nigeria Premier League, In 2014, Ifeanyi Ubah lost at the 2014 Anambra gubernatorial election under the platform of the Labour Party.
UCHE EKWUNIFE
Uche Lilian Ekwunife (nee Ogudebe) was born on January 12, 1970. She is a member of the 9th Nigerian Senate representing the people of Anambra Central Senatorial District and has been one of the most active female senators in the House.
Ekwunife had a career in banking where she rose to become an Area Manager. She was elected as a representative in 2007 for Anambra’s
Anaocha/Njikoka/Dunukofia constituency. She was re-elected in 2011. In 2015, she was elected to the Senate but her election was challenged in court and in December 2015 her seat was declared vacant. In the 2019 senatorial elections Ekwunife won and is currently representing Anambra Central Senatorial District.
TONY NWOYE
Tony Okechukwu Nwoye is a former member of the House of Representatives representing Anambra East/West constituency of Anambra State.
Nwoye is a former governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) in the 2014 election in Anambra State and was also a gubernatorial candidate of the APC in the 2017 gubernatorial election.
He is currently a member of the All Progressives Congress; Born on September 13, 1974, Nwoye is a medical doctor
GODWIN MADUKA
Godwin Maduka was born in 1959. He is a Nigerian-American doctor, businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of Las Vegas Pain Institute and Medical Centre.
Maduka has invested over $40 million in various community development projects in Umuchukwu, his place of birth.
He built houses for the poor, churches, market, schools, police station, Police Academy and College, Post Office, Magistrate Court and a High Court for the Anambra State government. He also built a 17-floor Multiplex Medical Research Centre in Umuchukwu.
GEORGE MOGHALU
Moghalu, 58, is the former National Auditor of the APC and has contested for the governorship of Anambra State on the platform of All Peoples Party, (APP), but lost.
Currently, Moghalu is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA). He is also from Nnewi and a prominent contestant on the APC platform.
About the Author
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
