By-election: Soludo mocks Peter Obi for ‘failing’ at home

By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has thrown jibes at one of his predecessors and the 2023 presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, while celebrating the victories of his party, APGA in the by- elections conducted last Saturday.

Obi, had endorsed candidates of the opposition’s coalition African Democratic Congress, ADC for the election, citing the present crises in Labour Party.

Specifically, the former LP presidential candidate had in posts on his social media handles endorsed the ADC candidates, asking his supporters to go out and vote for them in the by-election.

However, his endorsements failed to transform into victories for the ADC in the election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared APGA’s Emmanuel Nwachukwu the winner for Anambra South Senatorial District.

The APGA candidate scored 90,408 votes to defeat Azuka Okwuosa of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 19,847 votes and ADC’s Donald Amangbo, who got 2,889 votes.

With his victory in the by-election, Nwachukwu would replace Ifeanyi Ubah, the Anambra South Senator, who died in July 2024.

In the same vein, APGA’s Ifeoma Azikiwe was declared the winner of the by-election for the Onitsha North Constituency 1 in the Anambra State House of Assembly.

Reacting to the outcome of the election on Sunday at an event held in the Nanka area, Soludo said it was a reflection that the Labour Party (LP) and the ADC are “dead” and “non-existent” in Anambra State.

Soludo noted that ADC opposition coalition wanted to use the by-election in Anambra to test its popularity, but “the people spoke overwhelmingly with over 75%. APGA is our movement”.

Soludo, who is also seeking re-election as Anambra governor on the APGA platform in the November 8, 2025 said the outcome of the election confirmed that ADC and Labour Party are non-existent in Anambra.

“ADC does not exist in Anambra. We showed it yesterday (Saturday). Labour Party is dead,” Soludo said at the event.

He noted that Peter Obi was defeated at his Onitsha North Constituency in the election, despite leading campaign for the candidates of ADC in the by-election there.

“And all of them came. The senator representing the zone came. The senator representing Anambra Central threw himself into the ring. Members of the House of Representatives threw themselves into the ring. It looked like this was an allied force. Who were they coming against? The people. But the people of Anambra spoke.

“They wanted to use it as a test case for the new concoction called ADC in Anambra, but that election was won by APGA; we won with about 77%, a very emphatic statement. The signal we sent was that both ADC and Labour Party are dead in Anambra,” Soludo said.