Soludo's Landslide Victory Challenges One-Party State Narrative
A prominent founding member of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Osita Okechukwu, has described Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo's re-election in Anambra State as concrete evidence that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not steering Nigeria toward a one-party state.
The former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria made this declaration while addressing journalists in Abuja on Sunday, following the announcement of Soludo's victory by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Democracy in Action: Anambra as Case Study
Okechukwu emphasized that the outcome of the Anambra governorship election serves as a powerful counter-argument against recurring claims that the APC's dominance at the federal level, combined with waves of defections from opposition figures, represents a strategy to suffocate Nigeria's political space.
"Those who predicted that the ruling party would rig or capture the election have now been placed in check by the very outcome they feared," Okechukwu stated confidently.
According to the APC chieftain, Soludo's victory under the All Progressives Grand Alliance against the expectations of some opposition analysts provides all the empirical proof needed to debunk the one-party state theory.
APC Had Machinery But Respected Democracy
Okechukwu posed a compelling question to critics: "If APC wanted a one-party state, it had all the machinery to shove Soludo aside. Why then did APC lose?"
The political veteran argued that defections into the APC are not products of coercion or manipulation but rather result from what he described as the Peoples Democratic Party's self-inflicted mistakes, particularly the breach of zoning arrangements, combined with growing public appreciation for Tinubu's policy interventions.
He characterized the one-party state narrative as "lazy, ahistorical, and driven by fear rather than evidence," recalling that even during the PDP's era of dominance, some party leaders boasted about ruling Nigeria for sixty years until that claim collapsed under national pushback.
"It took Tinubu — working with other patriots — to break that claim," Okechukwu emphasized, highlighting the historical context of Nigeria's political evolution.
Election Results and Democratic Implications
The Independent National Electoral Commission declared Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo re-elected as governor of Anambra State for a second term on Sunday after a decisive victory.
According to official results announced by INEC's Returning Officer, Professor Edoba Omoregie (SAN), Soludo, representing the All Progressives Grand Alliance, secured a commanding total of 422,664 votes, sweeping all 21 local government areas in the state.
The election results breakdown showed:
- APC – 99,445 votes
- YPP – 37,753 votes
- LP – 10,576 votes
- ADC – 8,208 votes
- PDP – 1,401 votes
Other parties received minimal votes in the election that featured 27,888 registered voters, with 598,229 voters accredited and 595,298 total votes cast.
Okechukwu maintained that Nigeria still maintains genuine political choices and alternatives, stressing that the Anambra outcome practically demonstrates that voters retain the freedom to select candidates across party lines without interference.
The APC leader urged Governor Soludo to be magnanimous in victory and utilize his renewed mandate to consolidate development achievements in Anambra State. He also extended gratitude to President Tinubu for permitting a fair contest, which he described as the hallmark of responsible democratic leadership and a strong rebuke to merchants of the "one-party state" fear narrative.
