OHANAEZE YOUTH COUNCIL (OYC) – STATE SECRETARIAT

Office of the Anambra State Chairman / South East Zonal Representative Comrade Onuoha Eberechukwu, B.Sc (Hons), Pol.Sc., UNN Official Statement Dated: October 2025

ANAMBRA AND ABIA: THE ONLY STATES IN THE SOUTHEAST WHERE GOVERNANCE IS ROOTED IN PEOPLE’S MANDATE

The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has observed with critical interest the evolving political climate across the Southeast and wishes to draw national and regional attention to a factual development: that only Anambra State and Abia State presently enjoy governments that are products of the people’s genuine mandate.

1. DEMOCRATIC LEGITIMACY VERSUS POLITICAL SURVIVALISM

In most Nigerian states, electoral processes have been overshadowed by federal interference, judicial manipulations, and vote distortions. However, Anambra and Abia stand apart as unique examples of popular mandate triumphing over political machinery.

These two states demonstrate that true political stability and social trust emerge only when leadership emanates from the will of the people, not the dictates of power brokers in Abuja.

2. ANAMBRA STATE: THE ENDURING MODEL OF POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE

Since 2003, Anambra State has maintained political autonomy under the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), resisting the hegemony of federal ruling parties.
The 2021 governorship election that produced Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo was adjudged by both domestic and international observers as transparent and credible.

The use of technology, INEC’s BVAS system, and real-time result collation significantly minimized manipulation.

Soludo’s victory margin of over 112,000 votes reflected an authentic popular choice, not an imposed outcome.

This continuity of local political identity ensures that Anambra’s leadership is answerable to its people, not to the corridors of federal power.
For this reason, Anambra remains the most politically independent state in Nigeria whose electoral choices are guided by principle, not pressure.

3. ABIA STATE: A PEOPLE’S REVOLT AGAINST POLITICAL GODFATHERISM

Abia’s 2023 election marked a historic political reawakening.
For over two decades, the state was controlled by entrenched political interests under the PDP. The emergence of Dr. Alex Otti under the Labour Party (LP) was not a coincidence but a civilian revolt against systemic decay.

The introduction of BVAS neutralized rigging tendencies that had previously distorted Abia’s electoral will.

Otti’s victory, with more than 175,000 votes to PDP’s 88,000, was open, verifiable, and widely accepted by voters, civil societies, and observers alike.

The election ended a cycle of imposed leadership and replaced it with one anchored on accountability and transparency.
It was one of the few instances in modern Nigerian history where the people, not the system, decided the outcome.

4. STATES TRAPPED IN POLITICAL DEPENDENCY

By contrast, several other governors in the Southeast and across Nigeria owe their emergence to compromised electoral processes ranging from falsified collation figures to judicially procured victories.
Such leaders, lacking a genuine social contract with their people, now rely heavily on political alignment with the ruling APC to secure protection and future electoral chances.

Hence, the current wave of political defections, submission to federal dictates, and blind loyalty to the center is not ideological but a symptom of electoral illegitimacy and insecurity.

When a leader’s authority is not anchored on the people’s will, he must seek survival by bowing to those who control the levers of power.

5. THE TRUE MEASURE OF LEADERSHIP
The OYC emphasizes that performance alone is not enough if leadership lacks legitimacy.
Legality conferred by INEC or court rulings cannot replace legitimacy conferred by the electorate.
A governor who governs by the people’s mandate governs with confidence and independence.
Those rigged into power govern by fear, compromise, and constant political bargaining.

In the Southeast today, Anambra and Abia represent the last strongholds of people-centered democracy.
Their leaders do not need to genuflect before Abuja for political survival. Their future is decided at home, not at the Presidential Villa.

In conclusion therefore, The Ohanaeze Youth Council warns that the continued erosion of electoral integrity across Nigeria threatens the foundation of democracy.
The Southeast must take a cue from Anambra and Abia to rebuild governance on the principles of transparency, self-determination, and accountability.

When the people’s vote begins to count, agitation reduces, hope returns, and peace becomes sustainable.
But where elections are manipulated, even the most beautiful policies collapse under the weight of mistrust.

The OYC therefore calls for:

1. Protection of electoral independence across Southeast states;

2. Reinforcement of BVAS and result transmission systems to curb future manipulations;

3. Rejection of political subservience to the ruling party as a prerequisite for continuity.

Leadership must arise from the will of the governed not from the influence of godfathers or the dictates of external interests.

Signed:
Comrade Onuoha Eberechukwu
Anambra State Chairman / South East Zonal Representative
Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC)