President Bola Tinubu’s chances of securing a second term in 2027 received a dramatic push on Thursda, May 8, as Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, declared that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) had adopted him as its presidential candidate.
Soludo made the announcement during Tinubu’s one-day working visit to Anambra, where the president commissioned several projects and held a town hall with residents.
Explaining the party’s position, Soludo said, “I’m an unrepentant progressive, and APGA had given support to the president in 2011.
“Today, I want to inform you that the culture of APGA has not changed because we have keyed into the progressive nature and progressives, and we will support Mr. President.”
“Strongly rooted in centre progressivism, I want to tell you that that has not changed. APGA has strategically aligned with the centre,” he added.
The announcement, however, sparked strong and divided reactions across the South-East. While some viewed it as a strategic alignment to bring the zone closer to the federal government, others criticised it as a betrayal of APGA’s founding vision.
Addressing the gathering, President Tinubu returned the favour by endorsing Soludo’s re-election bid in the upcoming November 8 governorship poll.
“Soludo is my friend, and I salute his vision. He has the brain, he’s a great thinker, he knows the way, and we will work together,” Tinubu said. “Soludo is a person who will bring prosperity to you, and a solid foundation has been laid by him, and Anambra is on the rise.”
The president, who commissioned infrastructure projects including the new Government House, the Solution Fun City, the Emeka Anyaoku International Centre, and the Light Tower, pledged to work with Soludo to transform Anambra’s economy and tackle erosion.
“Anambra has almost become the erosion capital of the world, and we will do everything to make ecological investment in tackling erosion and abandoned federal road projects,” Tinubu promised.
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Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and APGA Board of Trustees member, Bianca Ojukwu, also backed Soludo’s move, saying it was in line with party tradition.
“It is a consensus of the party. We have done that with the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in times past. In the state, we are the APGA but when it comes to support, we key into the centre,” she said.
However, the endorsement was met with condemnation from APGA founder, Chief Chekwas Okorie, who described it as a “perfidious” act that overstepped Soludo’s powers.
“Prof. Soludo cannot make such a monumental commitment on behalf of APGA. He even claims to be the national leader of the party. A blatantly false claim,” Okorie said. “I am the founder and patriarch of APGA.”
The backlash didn’t end there. Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, called the endorsement “a show of desperation” by Soludo to secure a second term.
Also reacting, Anambra governorship aspirant, Valentine Ozigbo, criticised Soludo’s record in office.
“In over three years in office, Governor Soludo has delivered zero public housing, zero real investment inflow, and zero structural transformation of our economy,” Ozigbo said.
“It’s a glaring theatre of missed priorities, misplaced ambitions, and media optics masquerading as progress.”
Meanwhile, Tinubu’s APC continues to consolidate its grip on the South-East and South-South, with several defections from the PDP, including Delta’s Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and House of Assembly Speaker Emomotimi Guwor.
As momentum builds ahead of 2027, analysts say Tinubu’s growing influence in opposition strongholds could tilt the political balance, but not without internal party turbulence and external dissent.