Anambra 2025: APC Aspirants Brace Up for Guber Primary

At the last count, the All Progressives Congress stands as the most sought after party in the forthcoming governorship poll in Anambra State. David-ChyddyEleke reports that seven aspirants have already picked the nomination and expression of interest forms, and are set to slug it out at the party primary in April, 2025.

On November 8, 2025, electorates in Anambra State will be heading to the polls to elect a new governor. One of the political parties that has shown high interest to see its flag fly in the State Government House is the All Progressives Congress (APC). The party which used to be looked at as a pariah in the state has suddenly gained momentum.

The party has seven aspirants already. They include some of the high flying politicians in the state, most of who are veteran politicians  associated with previous victory in the political space in Anambra State. They are Sir Paul Chukwuma, EngrJohnboscoOnunkwo, Prof Obiora Okonkwo, Chief EdozieMadu, Hon ChukwumaUmeoji, Mr Valentine Ozigbo and Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu.

On April 5, 2025, APC will hold its primary to select the candidate that will fly its flag in the November, 2025 gubernatorial election in Anambra. Already, all the aspirants have been working to sell themselves to potential delegates as the most suitable for the position. A lot of factors will however come to play in electing a candidate for the party. Some of these factors include where the aspirants hail from, their financial standing, commitment to the party and integrity as a person.

Anambra has had a dominant culture of zoning when it comes to governorship, but APC has successfully dismantled such claims, stating clearly that zoning is an All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) thing, which does not concern Anambra or APC.

On its part, the APC has thrown its party ticket open to all, saying that it will give its ticket to any one who meets the criteria, irrespective of where they come from.

Also, in the area of commitment to party, the APC has recently had an influx of politicians from other political parties. For each politician that joins the party, the leadership has continually explained that every member of the party, whether old or new enjoys the same privileges, and also eligible to vote and be voted for. But there has been the general notion that most old members of the party who have over the years laboured laboriously for the party would not concede the platform easily to a newcomer.

A critical analysis of the personalities of the seven aspirants gunning for the ticket of the party can be found below:

Paul Chukwuma

He has been a long standing member of the APC in Anambra State. He has also been a member of the National Working Committee of the party and worked as its internal auditor. For years, he has been a long standing pillar of the party, sponsoring its activities, including presenting empowerment materials to the party members, procuring state party secretariat and replicating same at the local government and wards levels and many others too numerous to mention.

Chukwuma is a businessman, educationist and contractor. He is the Pro-Chancellor of Olivia University in Bujumbura, Burundi. He is a philanthropist of note and known to have a large war chest that can accommodate the huge financial implications associated with electoral campaigns. He is very much loved in the party and enjoys a large following, especially among members of the party at all levels. He is not new to the political circle in Anambra and has worked as a Director General of the campaign organisation of former candidate of the party, Senator Andy Uba. He hails from Umueri in Anambra East Local Government Area, which falls in the Northern Senatorial Zone.

Johnbosco Onunkwo

Young, suave, rich and very free with his resources, Onunkwo is an oil engineer based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He can be described as a veteran election contender, despite being the youngest among those running for the ticket of the party. He hails from Umuchu in Aguata Local Government Area, which is in Anambra South Senatorial Zone as the incumbent governor of the state, Prof ChukwumaSoludo. He has always been a youth candidate in the party, but has never been favoured as the candidate, let alone being considered as governor.

Obiora Okonkwo

He is the debonair gentleman behind the high flying airline, United Nigeria Airline. Okonkwo is more popularly known as DikeoraIdemili, his traditional title. He is very likeable and has within a short period of being in the APC registered his presence, through his electrifying presence. He joined the APC late in 2024 and announced his entry into the race in January, 2025. Since his entry into APC, activities seem to have been scaled up as no week passes without him holding one event of the other, and these have successfully announced his presence both in the party and in the State.

Okonkwo had previously shown interest in Anambra State, and had contested for the PDP ticket in 2021, but lost to another aspirant, Mr Valentine Ozigbo. He later moved to Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) where he contested the election and lost. He is loved at the grassroots, even in the party where he can be said to be considerably new, and has been able to galvanize members of the party into his camp and stand himself as a pillar to whom many are throwing their support.

He hails from Ogidi, Anambra Central Senatorial Zone, a Russia trained political economist, and known for his deep pocket and his ability to prosecute the forthcoming election, which is a very big criteria that will be considered for him to fly the flag of the party.

Edozie Madu

He is regarded as a political mathematician, and enjoys the support of some people in his party. He is not new in APC. He moved into APC  from his former party, Independent Democrat (ID) where he was the national chairman and also the presidential candidate of the party at some point. He hails from Ogbunka in Orumba South Local Government Area, which is in the Southern senatorial zone.

Chukwuma Umeoji

A former governorship aspirant of APGA, Umeoji almost constituted himself into the albatross of the incumbent governor, Prof Charles Soludo, whose effort to become governor he almost truncated through a factional party leadership in 2021. He is a former House of Representatives member, and many consider his sister, Dame Ada Umeoji who is Group Managing Director (GMD) of Zenith Bank as his major pillar in his quest to govern Anambra State.

Valentine Ozigbo

He is considered a perfect gentleman. He recently moved from Labour Party where he was known as a staunch ally of Mr Peter Obi to APC. He was previously a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he won the ticket of the party, despite the huge number of big political heavy weights in the party. His emergence was a surprise to many who considered him a political lightweight.

Since he left the Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) as chairman and joined politics, his gentle and simple mien has continued to attract followers to him.

His entry into APC has been severally analyzed as moving into the den of hawks, but in what looked like upping the ante, he has quickly launched the Valiant Movement, a political organisation to boost his aspiration. Ozigbo hails from Amesi in Aguata Local Government Area in Anambra South zone. Though he is loved, his financial standing has remained doubtable, as some have said.

Nicholas Ukachukwu

Ukachukwu from Orsumenyi in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State prides himself as one of the kingmakers in Anambra State. He recently joined the party, and during a reception party, he regaled the members with tales of his exploit in the early days of the recent democracy in the state.

He was a member of the House of Representatives, representing Abuja municipal area.

He joined the party from APGA where he had previously ran for the Senate but lost to late Senator IfeanyiUbah. He is a businessman with a huge war chest, and many have said he is ready to deploy it, even if it means buying the entire party structure.