The Anambra State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) recently elected a new set of leaders ahead of the 2027 general election. OKEY MADUFORO reports on the journey ahead and challenges of the party before the polls

The story of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra State has been a chequered one. From the days of the now defunct Action Congress (AC) till date, it has been a long drawn battle for political relevance.

Despite the presence of a former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige, among others, the party as it were has continued to grapple with its profiling by Anambra electorate as a western party. It fielded candidates for the 2007 gubernatorial, national and state Assembly elections but couldn’t win a single seat.

But shortly after the transformation of the AC to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the party made yet another attempt at testing its popularity in Anambra State and was able to secure the Anambra Central Senatorial District seat and four seats at the state Assembly.

However, the next general election saw the party losing those seats to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Upon the conduct of the 2010 gubernatorial election, the party which is now the APC, following the merger of the ACN, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and a faction of APGA, failed like a pack of cards over claims that that the party is not only anti Igbo but also a propagator of Islamic fundamentalism.

The embattled candidate of APC then, Ngige, lost in that election no thanks to the negative profiling of the party in the state. Ever since, the APC in Anambra has remained a name for the books and has always participated in every election but did not contest The party has severely been accused of lacking in internal democracy in both its congresses and primary elections.

A case in point was the emergence of Senator Andy Uba as candidate of the party in the last two gubernatorial elections, where results were said to have been written in a certain hotel when in the actual sense, it was supposed to be a direct primary election.

The other aspirants challenged the outcome of the primary election though Andy Uba ultimately took part in the said election but lost and equally lost his candidacy at the courts as it was ruled that there was no validly conducted primary election of the APC hence the party had no candidate.

Same was the fate of the last primary election of the party which produced Prince Nicholas Ukschukwu as most of the aspirants decamped to other parties, contending that the primary election was full of irregularities. Again the party went for the November 9 gubernatorial election and lost at the end of the day. Even before the gubernatorial election, the party failed to win the by-election for Anambra South Senatorial District seat even when its gubernatorial candidate is from the same zone.

These countless issues, hinged on lack of internal democracy, has always played out in most of the party’s state congresses, and at some point, the party had Barr Emeka Ibe as chairman, while Basil Ejidike was also dhairman hence producing parallel executives of the party. It is however a new dawn for the party as it brazes up for the upcoming 2027 general election. Political watchers are of the view that with the new sheriff in town the party can still get it right.

At the recent state congress of the party, the occasion witnessed men and women, who represent the political heartbeat of Anambra, and who were before now top members of the almost moribund Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) emerging as its leaders. It was indeed a mass return for heavyweights of Anambra political landscape, who are now in the APC as Senator Emma Anosike emerged as the state chairman of the party.

The first litmus test for Anosike is the conduct of the state and national Assembly primary elections to nominate candidates for the 2027 general election

Similarly the unanimous acceptance of Anosike as the chairman of the party in the state speaks volume of what is expected of the party in the 2027 general election. Anosike was a member of the House of Representatives between 1999 and 2003 and later became the senator that represented Anambra North Senatorial District though his stay was short-lived as Senator Joy Emordi took over via the election petition tribunal.

A n o s i k e had in the past midwifed the resolution of several political crises in Anambra State across p o l i t i c a l parties and it is not in doubt that he is indeed eminently qualified to transfer m A n a m b r a APC to the most wanted bride. A l re a dy, he has comm e n c e d m e e t i n g s and embarking on outreach at the local government and state levels in a bid to bring back all aggrieved members of the party. However, the first litmus test for Anosike is the conduct of state and national Assembly primary elections to nominate candidates for the 2027 general election.

Pundits are of the opinion that only credible primary elections remain the only tonic that will restore the integrity of the APC in Anambra State. Interestingly, Anosike is coming at a time when the ruling APGA in the state is not fielding any presidential candidate as Governor Charles Soludo has said that his party willwork with APC to ensure victory for President Bola Tinubu. This means that the President is sure of victory in Anambra State.

However, the two parties will surely part ways atthe state and national Assembly elections. Conversely, the task of defeating a former governor of the state, Mr. Peter Obi, of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) would be a herculean task though what is required of the APC in Anambra is to ensure that the statutory 25 per cent vote for the President is secured. While Anosike continues to put the broken pieces together, it is expected of him to be mindful of political tin gods in the party who may choose to rock the boat should they fail to protect their respective political interests during the primary elections.