bellwether state?

Nigeria: Who’s who in the race to be Governor of Anambra State

By Anthony Ademiluyi

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Posted on July 28, 2021 12:40

Nigeria’s former central bank governor and a governorship aspirant, Chukwuma Soludo, casts his vote in Isuofia village
Nigeria’s former central bank governor and a governorship aspirant, Chukwuma Soludo, casts his vote in Isuofia village, about 30 km (19 miles) to Awka,the capital of Nigerian eastern state of Anambra, February 6, 2010. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

Anambra State is a bastion of Igbo intellectual and commercial life. But its politics remain twisted by the endless feuding of the Uba brothers, and the three major parties in the state all divided in their loyalties. Anambra will go to the polls on 6 November to decide who will be governor, and is seen by many as a bellwether for the looming presidential candidate battles ahead. In this column, Tony Ademiluyi assess the candidates chances.

Anambra State, one of the five states in south-eastern Nigeria was created out of the East-Central State in 1976 by the then military administration of the Late General Murtala Ramat Mohammed. It boasts one of the largest galaxy of Igbo stars in the country: from politics to business to academia.

The vice-president of the Second Republic, Alex Ekwueme, was from there, as was the Biafran leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the renowned novelist Chinua Achebe, IT Guru Phillip Emeagwali, Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson Motors, and many more. The state has been under siege from political ‘godfathers’ since 1999 when democracy returned to the country after a sixteen year military interregnum.

READ MORE Nigeria’s Governors are trying out state police and vigilantes. Will it work?

Emeka Offor, a businessman of Chrome Group who made his fortune under General Sani Abacha from a maintenance contract from the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has dominated the

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